Samurai Saiyan
by KatrinaGG
Summary: Vegeta is raised as the personal body guard to Princess Bulma and has no idea about his royal and tragic past. But when old enemies arise the truth will have no choice but to come out. This is a story about war, love and honor. A/U Reposted again after 10 years!
1. Ashes

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 1: Ashes**

He had been beaten. He never thought in all his years that something like this could have happened. He could feel the rope biting harshly in his skin. The taste of the metallic sting of his own blood filled his mouth. He felt the bruises forming all over his body and the broken bones from his ribs and right leg were throbbing in pain as he hung from a beam in his own house. But he held onto the comforting fact that his family was safe and that was more important than any pain this freak could inflict on him.

"Where is your son Vegeta? Don't make me ask you again."

Vegeta raised his head up enough just to spit the blood that was warm in his mouth at the monsters feet. He heard the monster hiss at his defiance and would have raised his head to see the disgust look on his face if he could.

"You Saiyans are always so stubborn. Really, I would have let you go. I would have left your kingdom and everything would have gone back to normal if you just would have given me your son."

He didn't say a word. There was nothing he needed to say. He'd die before he told him. So he didn't flinch when the monster placed another blade in his vision.

"You know, I really do love knives. Swords end the fight to quickly. One must be able to enjoy the death to truly be victorious." He then took the blade and sliced it slowly and firmly into Vegeta's chest. The King hissed violently at the action. The slice was going over already numerous cuts causing a searing hot pain that was worse than the others. The Monster smirked and leaned down into the Kings ear as he gasped for breath. "Come now Vegeta, you're not going to moan for me anymore? I liked it so much better than your hissing."

His words ended as another glob of spit purposefully came from the Kings mouth, but this time it actually landed on the monster's feet. With a growl he kicked the soiled foot into the already broken ribs, causing the King to groan loudly. "Now that's more like it!" The monster said while laughing. He then stepped away from him very disappointed. "You brought this on yourself you know. Calling yourselves the fiercest warriors on the planet. It insulted my father's empire. We told you that we wouldn't punish you like this if you would hand over your son, but you just had to be stubborn. Fiercest warriors...more like Monkeys playing with swords." He saw that the King was completely unresponsive now and clucked his tongue in disappointment. "Alright, well you want to be complicated. Bring her in!"

King Vegeta resisted his throbbing pain and looked up as fear washed over him. "Cellena...no..."

Two of Frieza's men dragged a woman who was kicking and screaming and threw her down at Frieza's feet. "Look what we have here. The Monkey Queen. Now be a good girl and tell us where your son is...or we are going to have to kill you in front of your husband or you in front of him. I haven't figured that part out yet."

Cellena lifted her head and just kept her eyes on her husband. "It doesn't matter what you do to either of us. The result would be the same. You will not get your answer. My son is long gone by now and you will never find him."

That was not what Frieza wanted to hear. His body shook with rage as he yelled, "Stupid Monkeys! Tie her up next to him. They want to be together so badly then they can die together. But know this, while you both are resting in your graves, I will find your son. And everything will turn out the way I planned it to. Burn it down. Let the prideful king die while watching his beloved kingdom burn to ashes."

Freiza left out the room as his men threw torches around the room causing flames to burst around them. The two men pulled the queen up and tied her hands up around a beam in front of the King. Once their task was done they left the couple to their fate.

"Cellena what have you done?"

"I had to see you. If I could not rescue you then I knew that I couldn't let you die alone."

"Where is Vegeta?"

"Safe. Bunny has him. They are far away from danger." The fire was growing higher and it was getting hotter. The smoke was getting thicker, and all King Vegeta could think about was holding her in his arms one last time. He mustered whatever strength he could find. He pulled from deep down within his Saiyan pride and pulled as hard and as powerful as he could on the beam above. A crack gave way and he was able to slip one arm off it and then the other. The room was blocked off and there was no way they could make it out, but still he untied her wrists and gathered her in his arms and with their last breath they shared their last kiss as the burning roof began to collapse around them...

**Outside the palace walls...**

"Give it up Bardock. You are no match for me." Dadoria said as he knocked him down a second time."

Bardock got up awkwardly and painfully. He knew that his body was giving out on him, but he was a general in the Saiyan army and he will not stop fighting until he is dead.

"Please. This is nothing. You are nothing. I know why you freaks are here. You are scared of the Saiyins. Afraid of us taking down your empire. So you used cheap tactics and tricks to take us down. Fighting without pride. Without honor!"

"Haha. You don't need honor if you are winning. And by the looks of things, I'd say we won a long time ago. But you are just so persistent. It's pathetic really."

"I'm not going to stop. We are a warrior race. And I'd die before I would ever become a coward like you." Bardock said as he raised his sword once more.

"Well I can help you with that." Dodoria rushed him, dodged a swing from Bardocks blade and pierced him in his stomach with his own.

Dadoria pulled his sword from Bardock's abdomen and watched him fall into the ground. Bardock gasped for breath as his life began to flash before his eyes. "O-one...one day...my blood will avenge me." He said with his final breath. Dadoria looked down at him, making sure that he wasn't going to get up and surprise him. Once he was sure he only smirked at him. "I'll be waiting."

**Meanwhile...**

Bunny cradled the wailing baby in her arms as she continued on her way. It seemed as if she had been walking forever but she finally made it to her destination. In exhaustion she sat down on the warm grass beneath her tired feet. Her horse was wounded and gave out on her a mile back causing her to walk the rest of the way. The baby in her arms cried even more and Bunny held him tight. "Shh shh you don't have to cry my prince we are safe." She looked up at the palace that sat in the distance from the grassy hill she sat atop of. "Prince Vegeta, Welcome to Brief Kingdom."

After resting for a few moments she got back up and made her way down the hill to the gates of the Kingdom. She strolled in and it didn't take her long to get to the king. She had met him numerous times. King Brief was a friend to the Saiyins. His kingdom was highly advanced in weaponry and the Saiyans were consistently doing business with the King. Whenever he would stop by the Saiyan Empire, he would always find himself flirting with Bunny, the maid and personal assistant of Queen Cellena. He would even tease her about one day stealing her away and promoting her from servant to queen. He was always a kind king, and she knew he was the best person to take the prince to. "Your highness what are we going to do?"

King Brief looked down at the now sleeping prince. He never would have thought something like this could have happened. The Saiyan Empire was some of the fiercest warriors he had ever seen. Everyone had heard about the Cold Empire from the far north, but no one knew that they were that powerful to take out the Saiyans.

King Brief looked up at Bunny and said, "We must hide him."

"Hide him? How will we hide a prince? He looks just like his father, there is no way he will go unnoticed."

"I will think of something. But no one must know that he is here. Frieza will surely send his assassins."

"Yes of course." Then Bunny's eyes became large as she remembered something. "Oh, I forgot about my friend. Colleen! She is the head general's wife, and I told her that I was coming here. She said she had to find her son. Oh your majesty, she's pregnant. And she might still be out there, or she could be-"

"Now don't worry, we will find her. I'll have my guards search for her at once."

Bunny nodded her head as tears of worry, sadness, and tiredness filled her eyes. "I'm sorry your highness, but everything is just so awful."

"Well they don't have to stay that way."

"What do you mean your highness?"

King Brief looked very sincerely into her eyes. "Marry me."

"Your highness?" She whispered in disbelief.

The King smiled at her reaction. "I was never trying to amuse you. I was telling you the truth when I told you that I wanted you to be my wife."

Bunny blushed at the King and nodded in acceptance. "I could never refuse you my lord."

"Good. We shall be married at once. That shall take care of your new identity and when we find your friend she shall be your maid."

**Meanwhile...**

The pregnant Saiyan woman leaned against her horse as she came upon Brief Kingdom. Depression wrecked her tired body and it was all she could do but to hold unto the reigns. The Horse stumbled upon something and she almost fell off it, but someone caught her.

"Whoa! Be careful there."

She looked up and saw an old man holding her. She pulled away from him and sat back up on the saddle. "I'm sorry."

The old man frowned at her. "What are you apologizing for? I was walking by and saw you about to fall over. I might be old but I'm not going to let a lady especially one carrying a child fall off of a horse."

Colleen would have smiled at his kindness if her world wouldn't have been torn upside down. "Thank you."

The old man looked at her worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm just on my way to the palace." She said trying to muster up some more strength.

"Well it's not too far; I'll walk with you, just to make sure that you're alright."

If it was any other day then Colleen would have been embarrassed to be escorted by an old man, especially a non saiyan. But she had to admit, she wanted the company. So she nodded her head and kicked the horse forward into a slow trot so the old man could keep up.

"My name is Gohan by the way." He said. Colleen only nodded. Even though she didn't mind the company, she really didn't feel like talking at the moment. Gohan didn't know what she was going through, but he could tell that it must have been a lot. "I always wanted children. My wife couldn't bare any though. But we got through it." Gohan stopped his story to chuckle. "To comfort ourselves we would come up with stories about the son we always wanted. We would call him Goku and talk about how strong he is-"

"Why?" Colleen asked sadly. "What can never be will never be. What is gone is gone."

Gohan held her eyes and willed strength into hers. "Never underestimate the power of a story. It can give you strength, courage, and happiness in a matter of moments. You only have to be able to receive it."

Colleen closed her eyes and tears poured down her face. "But they're not real. And they can never happen."

Gohan reached up and grabbed her hands. "They are what you make them. Your story is what you make it."

Colleen nodded her head and wiped her tears away. "Thank you. You have shown me kindness when I needed it the most. I will never forget you."

"I am glad to hear that." They continued on until they got to the steps of the palace. Gohan helped Colleen off the horse and bowed to her. "I am glad I have met you."

"Why?" Colleen asked confused. She was a burden. She was weak, filthy and depressingly desperate. How could he be glad to have met her?

Gohan only smiled at her. "Because you are stronger than you know. You remind me of my wife. She was like you. She like you had more strength inside of her than could ever be known. Your child is very lucky indeed. Farewell and stay strong."

"Goodbye." Colleen said as she saw him go. It wasn't long before a guard approached her and brought her to a private room that Bunny and the King were in. As soon as Bunny saw her she ran and embraced her.

Colleen brought her arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. "I saw him die Bunny."

"Who?"

"Bardock." Tears welled up in her eyes as she replayed the scene over and over again. "I was looking for Raditz. I never found him. He's only a young boy and I have no idea where he is. And I came up over a ridge and I saw Bardock fighting Dadoria. I wanted to help him so bad but I couldn't risk the baby. I couldn't risk losing the last piece of him." She started crying again and Bunny held her tightly.

"Oh Colly I'm so sorry."

"I don't know what to do, or where to go. My whole world has been completely shaken."

"You will stay here." King Brief said. "You will be Bunny's maid."

Colleen blinked. "Her maid? How? She is a maid."

"Soon she will be my wife. It is not safe for you to leave. The Cold Empire will no doubt be looking for the Prince and Saiyan survivors. You must stay within our gates. It's safer that way."

Colleen nodded. "Where is the Prince?"

"Over here." Bunny said walking over to a small cradle on the other side of the room.

Colleen walked over to him and smiled at the sleeping prince. She was glad to see another Saiyan, even if he was a baby. "What will we do with the children?" She asked quietly enough so that she wouldn't wake him.

King Brief spoke up at that. "You will raise your child as well as the prince as your own. And when Bunny and I have a child, we will make the boys our child's own personal body guard."

Colleen frowned. "Children as body guards? You can't be serious."

"I am. That way, Prince Vegeta will get all of the training and education that he will need."

Colleen looked down at the boy again. "But he looks so much like his father, his hair-"

"Then we will cut it. No one will think to look for a crowned prince in servant's quarters."

Bunny sighed. "Well we can't call him Vegeta."

The King placed crossed his arms while he was thinking. Then an idea came. "No, we need something from our own kingdom." His eyes became large as he thought of something perfect. "Ouji! We will call him Ouji."

Colleen nodded. "Yes that does not sound Saiyan at all. What about mine?"

Bunny kind of chuckled. "Well to be honest, Colleen is a popular name in the Kingdom. So calling you Colly wouldn't be bad."

"I agree." Said King Brief.

Colleen only nodded. "I was going to call my baby Kakarot. I almost died on the way here, but a lovely old man came and helped me before the guards found me." She smiled as she thought about the first act of kindness given to her during her nightmare. "Yes, I think I shall call my baby Goku. I probably would have lost him if it wasn't for him."

"Well there we have it. And when Vegeta comes of age, I will find a way to restore his kingdom and give his inheritance to him."

Bunny smiled at King Brief. "If anyone can do it, then you can."

Colleen rubbed her belly and looked to the Prince. It would be such an honor to raise a prince but she didn't even know how. She worried about the future. She didn't know what happened to her firstborn son and she didn't know what will happen to Kakarot. All she could do was tell him the right stories to be strong. "I hope these children will get along."

**Author's Note:** Wow people. It's been a long time. But I really do love this story. And it's so cool to be writing it once more. If any of you guys remember reading it before let me know, I'm so curious if any of my same readers have returned to like I have. My pen name used to be Trina Monkey. Please Review!


	2. Childish

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 2: Childish**

The five year old girl couldn't stay asleep anymore and sat up in her rather large bed. She looked around her room in fear as she could have sworn she heard something. There were shadows everywhere, dancing around her room, almost as if they were trying to get closer and closer to her and snatch her into their dark world. She grabbed her knees and tried to wish them away but every time she would be brave and open one eye lid, she would see something trying to get at her. It was then that she couldn't take it anymore.

She hugged her legs tightly as she screamed, "Ouji? Ouji please!"

The 6 year old boy in the adjoining room groaned and rolled over, hoping that he had heard wrong and tried to go back to sleep.

"Ouji! Ouji!"

The boy sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me." He said to himself as he tossed his covers off of him. He had only been given the job of watching over the princess a week ago, and she was already getting on his nerves.

"Ouji please come!"

He stood up and yawned. He walked over to the sliding door that led to the princess's bedroom and leaned against the frame. "What do you want?"

The blue haired, blue eyed princess pouted her bottom lip and looked as innocent as possible. "I'm afraid."

Ouji rolled his eyes. "So?"

She threw her arms out and whined. "I need you to do the check."

He stopped leaning against the door frame and stood up straight and crossed his arms. "No it's stupid. Every night it's the same thing. And every night there is nothing there. So go to sleep and stop acting dumb."

"Please! Pretty please?" She said begging as she clasped her hands together.

Ouji wanted very badly to go back to sleep, but he knew that she would start wailing if he turned around. Then he would never be able to go back to sleep. "Fine just stop that noise. It's so annoying."

"Oh wow! You're the best Ouji." She said smiling at him. She knew that no monster would attack her as long as Ouji was around. Her mother and father told her that he was going to protect her from anything and she believed it. Also Ouji could be pretty scary himself when he wanted to be.

"Whatever." Ouji quickly looked in her huge closet and under the princess's bed. Once he did that he went to the curtains and drew them back only to draw them closed again. Now that he was done, he crossed his arms and glared at the girl. "See Bulma? I told you there was nothing there."

Bulma just smiled. "Well I was sure I saw something moving but you must have chased it away."

Ouji didn't feel like arguing with her anymore over the subject. "I'm going back to sleep." He said as he yawned again.

"Wait!"

"What now?" It was his turn to whine.

"Well if you sleep next to me then you won't have to worry about checking all the time."

Ouji rubbed his sleepy eyes. "You know that I'm not supposed to do that."

"Oh come on. No one has to find out. You can leave before your mommy comes in to wake me up."

Ouji blinked a few times and looked at all the pillows on her bed. His room although it was a nice bedroom, it was still nowhere near as big and as grand as the princess's. Her bed was clearly too big for her small frame and had what seemed like a hundred pillows on top of it. And it was the soft siren call of those pillows that caused him to give in. "Fine, but I get just as many pillows as you do."

"Ok deal. Yea! I'm so happy. I'll never be scared again!" She said as she divided her pillows evenly.

Ouji didn't pay attention to her praise as he was now completely lost to the trance of the comfortable bed. As soon as Ouji touched the bed he was starting to drift off to sleep again. Her bed was way softer and the sheets felt like he was floating in water they were so smooth. And when his head hit the pillow, his eye lids became incredibly heavy and he was on his way to dream land until...

"Ouji?"

"What. Do. You. Want?" He bit out as he was pulled away from his destination.

Bulma ignored his harsh tone and laid her head down close to him. She was a pillow away from him and she relished in the comfort that his already strong presence gave her. She knew that her parents made the right choice in choosing her bodyguard. She smiled as she began to close her eyes as well. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm happy you're my body guard."

Ouji just gave a slight grunt then fell asleep. When the sun started shining through the window hours later, he woke up and knew that it was time to leave the princess alone to her bed before he got in trouble. He walked into his bedroom and fell tiredly on his bed. Only an hour later his little brother came in bouncing on top of him.

"Oof!" Ouji said as the wind left from his stomach.

"Come on Ouji get up!"

"Goku you are such an idiot. What are you doing in here?" He said throwing his brother off of him.

Goku landed on his feet and smiled at his big brother. "Oh come on Brother, its breakfast time. Mom said its meal importance."

Ouji rolled his eyes. "It's the most important meal of the day."

"Oh." Goku said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Ouji just shook his head. "I can't believe that I'm surrounded by idiots that won't let me sleep."

"Ouji! What have I told you about calling people rude names?" Colly said in the doorway.

"Sorry mother."

Colly narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "You have been hanging around those other palace guards haven't you?"

Ouji's eyes widened and he knew he had been caught, but he still tried to defend himself. "I'm a guard too."

"You are a different kind of guard. And I don't want you hanging around them. They are too old for you to be around and I don't want them influencing you in a bad way. Understood?"

"Yes mam." Ouji said annoyed as he crossed his arms. He liked hanging around the older guards. They knew how to fight and weren't babies like Goku and Bulma. He would just have to be careful from now on.

Colly looked over the two boys and realized that their hair was getting longer again. Saiyans were known for a quite a few things. One was their brute strength; one was there agility used in their fighting skills, their huge appetite, and lastly their hair. Saiyans always had a distinctive look with their hair, and it pained Colly that she had to cut theirs, but for their safety it had to be done.

"I think you boys need another haircut."

Both the boys looked upset about that. Ouji touched the top of his hair and frowned. He was hoping to grow it out. He was curious to see how high his hair would grow. His hair was spiky at the top and he had these spiky bangs over his forehead. He hated his hair (AN: His hair is like how it is in GT but with bangs from his childhood flashbacks).

Goku was in agreement. His hair was normal in the front but cut shorter in the back. He wanted his hair to grow out normal as well (Like Gohan's when he fought Cell).

Colly was sad for her boys. She wanted nothing more than for them to look like the proud men that their fathers were, but she didn't have a choice. "Don't start with me about the hair; it's the King's orders. He doesn't want his guards looking sloppy."

Ouji scowled at that. "Has he seen the other guards?"

"I don't want to hear it Ouji. I am not the King." She said effectively shutting him up. "Now, the two of you go eat your breakfast, and then it's off to training, and then Ouji you have to go with the princess."

Ouji whined as he got out of his bed. "Mother, why do I have to learn my lessons with the princess? Why can't you teach me like you teach Goku? Her instructors are so boring."

Colly bent down so that she was eye level with Ouji. "Because you must learn everything that the princess learns. Even the slightest detail that is told; you must remember it. Do you understand?"

"Yes but I don't see why?"

Colly was quiet for a moment because she was trying to come up with the best answer to give him. "Because...you don't want to protect someone that is smarter than you. She might decide to run away from you one day and she's never going to be as strong as you so she may use her brain and try to outthink you. It's possible for it to happen, because the more things you learn the smarter you get. Now you don't want that to happen do you?"

Ouji instantly became offended. The last thing he wanted was for a girl to outsmart him. "No I don't. I'll be the smartest, fastest and strongest person ever!"

Goku was feeling a little left out of the conversation. "What about me Mom? Can I be the strongest?"

"Haha. Well it looks like you are going to have to fight your brother for that one."

"Ha!" Ouji said while crossing his arms again. "Goku will never beat me!"

"Yes I will!"

"You will not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"BOYS? If you two don't go I swear I will give your food to someone else!"

Goku looked scared. "Mommy no!"

"Well go!" Colly watched the two boys run off to the kitchens and she couldn't help but think of how great those two boys were going to be.

**Author's Note**: Short chapter, but at least I got it out quickly. So here's the thing, everyone in the story is technically an earthling. So no powers or tails because that's not important to the story line. Now there really aren't "countries" but more like nations/kingdoms/empires. Just think 'Avatar the last Air Bender', it's kind of like that. And yes I skipped some years, but I don't really need them to be kids for long in this story. My other story Cosmic Love has longer chapters with the group as kids, but not this one. Please Review and tell me what you think!


	3. Birthday

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 3: Birthday**

Bulma sat up in bed as she realized it was a new day. But it wasn't just any day, it was her birthday. It was her 13th birthday. She was so excited that she couldn't contain herself. She was a woman now! She looked to her right and saw that her body guard was still asleep. She smiled down at his sleeping form. He looked so cute and peaceful when he slept. Ouji had been her best friend her whole life. Ever since she was a kid he had slept right next to her every night to make sure that he chased away any and all of her fears. He didn't have to do it but he did. He was really a sweet and amazing guy.

She shook his shoulder and spoke excitedly. "Ouji wake up!"

Ouji slowly opened his eyes to the pretty princess that was hovering over him then became wide awake from shock. "I can't believe that you are awake before me."

"It's my birthday! I'm 13! I'm a Woman now." She said happily.

Ouji snorted at that and sat up. "Hardly. You still look like a girl to me."

Bulma scoffed and chucked a pillow at his head. Ouji caught it and with a smirking face placed the pillow behind his head. "Thank you."

Bulma crossed her arms annoyed. "You know, pillow fights with you were never fun."

Ouji shrugged his shoulders. "Because you can't fight, so what's the point?"

Bulma just sighed. "Anyways, I am considered a woman in many places and parts of the world whether you see it or not. In fact in some cultures I could even marry and bare children."

Ouji rolled his eyes. "Thank you, your majesty for that not needed small lecture."

"Well you need to learn some things Ouji."

Ouji crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "We have the same teachers. Don't assume you're smarter than me."

"Oh I don't assume, I know."

"Well then you are too cocky for your own good Princess. I may be only a guard but I am not like some of these idiots walking around here."

Bulma giggled at Ouji's behavior. He always made her laugh when he didn't mean to. Yes it was true that he was only a guard but she swears he acted like royalty. He couldn't stand not being the best at everything. Even when they had their lessons, he would always get a lot of answers correct but he would get so upset if he scored less than her. It also didn't help that Bulma would rub it in his face either.

"No you are not like the other guards Ouji." Bulma began to blush all of a sudden and Ouji was looking at her weird. She scooted closer to him on the bed and said, "As a matter of fact, you're not like anyone."

Seeing her blush caused him to blush too. "I-well of course I'm not. I train harder than anyone on the planet."

Bulma looked down shyly. "No, there's something else. Something I else about you that I..." She trailed off her sentence too scared to complete her statement.

Ouji didn't know what was up with her today. "…That you?"

"…Like." Bulma said as she finally looked at him again. "I like you...a lot actually. And I want to-well there's something that I need-not need really, but that I want you to do."

Ouji raised his eyebrow. She was acting odd. She never stuttered, and she had never been nervous around him. But her nervousness was starting to make him nervous. He scooted a little bit away from her in caution. "So do it. Why are you acting scared?"

She looked down again and started playing with her fingers. "…Because I need to ask your permission."

Ouji was really confused now. She was the one who was royalty, not him. She didn't need to ask his permission for anything. He had no choice but to do what she said. "Bulma what are you talking about?"

Bulma looked at him and with mock confidence she sat up straight and said, "I want you to kiss me."

Ouji's eyes got big and he almost fell out of the bed. He couldn't help the pink that washed over his face. "What? Princess I know I have pushed the boundaries with you on many areas, but this is going too far."

Bulma looked down again hurt and embarrassed. "I see. So you don't want to."

"I do." Ouji shut his mouth quickly. Those were not the words he meant to say. Of course he had thought of kissing her. He was a 14 year old boy going through puberty. Not to mention that he slept next to a pretty girl every night. It was impossible not to think about kissing her...and possibly doing more. But there were consequences to those types of actions. He didn't want to bring dishonor to his family and lose his title of bodyguard because he couldn't control his hormones. He could see that Bulma really wanted to and he was very tempted. "Bulma we could get in a lot of trouble-"

"No one has to know. It's just a kiss. I just want to see what it's like." Bulma said getting closer to him. She was glad to know that he actually did want to kiss her. That was all the ammunition she needed.

Ouji swallowed down his nervousness as Bulma was now only a hairs breath away from him. He knew he should leave and go to his room and pretend that none of this ever happened but the girl was hard to resist. He had a crush on her for quite some time. He should have stopped sleeping next to her, but he enjoyed being around her too much. As she was looking up at him with pleading eyes he couldn't really refuse her. "O-ok."

Bulma smiled then she closed her eyes and leaned in to him. Ouji closed his eyes and hoped that he was going to do this right; after all, this was his first kiss as well. When their lips touched, he noticed that her lips were very soft and he wanted to kiss her longer, but he got scared and pulled away. Bulma jumped back and stared wide eyed at him. Then she blushed. "That was nice."

It was Ouji's turn to blush. "Well of course. I'm an elite soldier and body guard. Everything I do is absolute perfection." He said as he got out of bed. He didn't want her to see him so nervous.

She got out also. "Wait, Ouji."

He stopped and turned his head to the side to look at her. She walked up to him until she was standing in front of him. "I want to kiss you again."

Ouji nodded and Bulma slowly raised her arms to the top of shoulders and closed her eyes again. Ouji closed his as well and placed his hands on her waist and kissed her again. This kiss was even better than the first one. The both of them were enjoying their sweet embrace when all of a sudden they heard a voice say...

"Oooh you guys are in trouble!"

They broke apart from each other and stared at the person in front of them. Goku was standing in the doorway leading to Ouji's room, pointing his finger at them and laughing.

Ouji was the first to speak. "Goku what are you doing in here!?

"I came to wake you up so we could tell Bulma Happy Birthday." He said while laughing.

Bulma got really scared. "Goku please you can't tell anyone."

"Haha. Bulma and Ouji sititn in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-"

Ouji exploded. "I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Ouji was already nervous around Bulma, the last thing he needed was his brother to tease him. He started chasing Goku around the room and shouting death threats. This made Goku laugh even more while Bulma kept trying to get both of them to stop.

All three of the young teenagers stopped when the King Brief came into the room. "WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" He yelled. All the children bowed to the King. He glared at each of them and said, "I come in here to wish my daughter a happy birthday and I find this in her bedroom." The kids were silent, because all three of them were scared. "Well, someone had better explain what's going on."

Bulma stood up first. "I can explain father." She said with a smile on her face. "You see Goku and Ouji came in here together because each one of them wanted to be the first person to wish me happy birthday, then they started to do what they always do which is fight and then you came in." She ended with a bright smile, hoping that her father believed her lie.

King Briefs looked at both the boys and sighed. "Yes well, sadly there's nothing we can do at this age to stop that. Boys always try to best each other. It's in their blood you see. Well boys go on and let me have some time with my daughter."

They both nodded and left and went back into Ouji's room. When they got inside Ouji punched Goku in the back of the head. "You almost got us all in trouble."

"Well you're the one who kissed her; you big meanie." He ended with sticking his tongue out at him.

Ouji just rolled his eyes at his brother's childish ways and started to change into some day clothes.

"Hey Ouji?"

"What?"

"Did you get Bulma anything for her birthday?"

"It's none of your business." He snapped.

"So you did huh?" He said with a grin. He could read his brother like a book. "So, what did you get her?"

Ouji glared at his brother then shrugged his shoulders. "It's no big deal. I just made her something." He nearly mumbled.

"What is it?" Goku said with his curiosity peaked now.

Ouji knew that Goku would be bugging him the rest of the day if he didn't show it to him so with a sigh he gave in. He went over to a chest that was in a corner of his room and opened it. He pulled out a small bundle of cloth and unfolded it revealing a wooden flute and handed it to Goku.

"Wow you made this?" Goku asked as he looked over the small instrument.

Ouji just crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "It's no big deal. I know she has a thing for music, and I decided to make her something that she can make music with." Bulma loved it when musicians would play for the royal family. She would always clap along happily with the music. It took him hours upon hours to carve that flute out of wood he had gotten from a branch from one of the trees in the garden. He didn't even really know how long it took him because he had little time in the day to himself. It was hard to keep something a secret when you had to be around people all day. He would get up early every day to carve that thing. That was probably why Bulma was able to wake up before him; he was making up for all the sleep he had lost. He didn't even exactly know how to carve one. He only had tried to remember what the flutes looked like that a couple of the musicians would use. Every time they played he focused in on that instrument, analyzing it, recording it to his memory so he could make the best gift for Bulma.

Goku was very impressed with his brother's work. "It looks just like the flutes the musicians play with. Wow she's going to really love it."

Ouji smirked. "Yea, I think she'll like it. Now come on, we need to eat breakfast, and then I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

A couple hours later the two boys were in the palace garden. Goku was on the ground breathing hard while Ouji was standing over him smirking. "I told you brother, you can't beat me. And to think I was actually going easy on you."

Goku sat up and shook his head. "Well don't. I'll never learn if you do. Besides they teach you more fighting skills because you have to protect Bulma so you have to give your all with me so I can learn everything too."

Ouji frowned. "Well I'd love to give my all but mother freaks out when you ever you get hurt."

Goku kicked at the ground a bit. "Yea I hate when she treats me like a baby."

Ouji crossed his arms. "I swear sometimes she treats you like you're an only child." He said a little jealous. It was weird how their mother would act sometimes. She looked at him sometimes as if she was waiting for him to do something; as if he should know everything and know better than everyone. Then at the same time she would coddle Goku as if he was the most precious creature on the planet. He didn't understand the different treatment they received nor did he like it.

Goku stood up and dusted his pants off. "Now that's not fair. I am the youngest besides; you have to spend most of your time with Bulma so I end up spending more time with mother. You don't have to be jealous."

Ouji threw his head back and laughed. "Me? Jealous of you? Come, now brother. Don't be stupid."

"Oh Ouji will you ever stop teasing Goku?" Bulma giggled as she entered the garden.

Ouji turned to look at her and blushed as he remembered what happened that morning. Then he collected himself and crossed his arms. "Calling Goku 'stupid' is not teasing him, its stating a fact."

"Hey it's not fair that you guys get taught big words and get a fancy education." He said as he stuck out his tongue at his brother.

"Don't worry about it Goku. You are very talented. I see you fight, and I can tell you're a natural." Bulma said as a matter of fact.

Ouji glared at his brother. For some reason he didn't like it when Bulma gave his brother a compliment and not him.

"Well gosh Bulma thanks." Goku said smiling at her.

"You're welcome. Oh by the way, your mother wants you."

"Oh ok. See you later guys." He said as he began to walk away. Then he turned and said to his brother, "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!"

"Oh SHUT UP and GET OUT OF HERE!" Ouji yelled after him.

Bulma just laughed at him.

"What are you laughing at?" He said turning toward her.

"…You. You're very funny."

"Ha. There are a lot of things someone could describe me as and funny is not one of them."

Bulma bit her lip and looked down. "How would you describe me?"

Ouji was getting nervous again. He hated the feeling but he was excited about it at the same time. It was very confusing. His throat got really dry and he had to swallow in order to speak again. "You-you're a princess."

"Yes but," Bulma stepped closer to him and put her hair behind her ear. "How would you describe me?"

He looked at her from head to toe. She was wearing a very pretty white Kimono with pink cherry blossom trees stitched into it. Her hair was down and her bangs cut across her face, framing her big gorgeous eyes. "You're...you're...beautiful."

Bulma looked at him with such appreciation. Many people from all over the world had told her how beautiful she was, but in 13 years of her life, there was one person she really wanted to hear it from. Every time she got a new dress or would wear her hair a certain way to get his attention he would never say anything. And if she asked him what he thought, he would just say something like, "Go find a mirror and ask it for advice." So she couldn't help but feel her stomach do loops as he finally paid her a compliment.

"Oh Ouji." She wanted to kiss him again. And she had every intention of doing so but...

"Your highness!"

Bulma and Ouji stepped back from each other. Ouji blinked in slight confusions because he didn't even realize they were only a few inches away from each other. He looked at the entrance and saw his mother looking very displeased. She started to walk towards them and he knew that this wasn't going to be good.

Bulma was a little scared but she didn't actually see them do anything so she knew they couldn't get into that much trouble. "Yes Colly?"

"Your Mother is in your room. She wishes to see you. You have a very big day ahead of you and you must start to get ready for you party tonight."

"Yes of course." She turned to Ouji, "I shall see you later."

Ouji slightly bowed to her as she left. Colly waited until The Princess was inside before she turned to Ouji. "What were you thinking?"

Ouji became defensive and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? You were about to kiss her?"

"So what if I was?" He snapped. He knew he should have held his tongue but sometimes he couldn't help it.

"Ouji you know that you cannot be with her." Colly said firmly.

"I know. She is a princess and I am nothing but a servant." He spat. "It's ridiculous." He hated, absolutely hated being told he couldn't do anything. He hated the haircuts, he hated not being allowed to leave the palace grounds, and he hated being told that he couldn't even like a girl.

"You might think it's ridiculous but that is just how things are. You must get over this. You and Bulma can never be." Ouji was silent. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes. Mother. I understand." He said with a clipped tone as he stared her down.

Colly had to resist the urge to bow to him and ask for forgiveness. In moments like these she felt like she was thrown back in time and would forget that Vegeta is her adopted son and not her King. It didn't help that he looked so much like his father. But she had to remind herself that for the time being she is not his subject but his mother and even though it is completely out of order, she must play the role.

"Do not get an attitude. I am your mother and you will not talk to me that way. Understood?"

Ouji nodded his head and said "Yes Mother" in a more polite way but she could still see the Saiyan pride streaming out of his eyes.

_'This boy was meant to lead and never to follow.'_

"Good now go help your brother get ready for today's activities."

Ouji nodded and walked away from his mother.

A couple hours later Ouji was dressed in his royal guard armor and waiting for Bulma to finish getting ready. He was pacing back and forth in his room with Bulma's gift in his hand. He was debating when he should give it to her and what he should say. But time was running out and he knew he had to go into Bulma's room and lead her down to the banquet hall. With frustration he let loose a growl and stuck the hand carved flute inside his armor and walked to Bulma's door. He knocked and heard her say, "Enter." He opened the door and paused as he looked at her. She was standing there in a bright blue Kimono that matched her long beautiful hair. The top of hair was done up into an elegant bun with blue and green jewelry sticking out of it.

He thought she looked gorgeous.

"Hello Ouji."

"My Princess." He said as he bowed. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes in a moment." She paused before she gathered herself to speak. "I just wanted to tell you that being with you is the best gift that I can get from anybody today." She bowed her head slightly to hide the blush that invaded her face.

Like a man possessed, Ouji walked up to her and tipped her head up. Every time they had kissed before, she had started it. And he wanted to take the initiative. He kissed her very gently and softly, really taking in the moment. He never wanted to forget this kiss and didn't want her to forget it either.

When they pulled apart from each other Bulma smiled at him well he smirked. "You're getting really good at this."

"And I'll even get better. But we must go."

Bulma sighed. She loved the attention but birthday parties were always the same. She never knew any of the people that came. And they never came for her; they only came for her father. As far as she was concerned, Ouji and Goku were her only friends in the world. "Alright, let's go."

While they were walking down the hall Ouji wanted to kick himself when he realized that he was so caught up in the kiss that he had forgotten to give her the gift. But then again, he didn't mind waiting till the end of the night. _'Saving the best for last.'_

The party was just as Bulma had expected it to be. She received all sorts of gifts from many people from all over the world; Dresses, jewelry, pets and all sorts of things. She was grateful, and she loved the gifts, but she really just wanted to go spend more time with Ouji. Every now and then she would look at him and he would start to blush and then he would turn away. She also would blush and she found that more entertaining than her whole party.

This did not go unnoticed by Colly and she honestly didn't know what to do about this situation. There were times she had gone in Bulma's bedroom or Ouji's to check up on them and she would find them innocently in bed together. She had talked to Bunny and the King about it, but they had said that they were children and that it was only natural for them to eventually have a crush on each other. But they assumed that they would grow out of it eventually…But Colly saw that look in Vegeta's eyes; That Saiyan determination. That boy was in love and he was about to get his heart broken…

"Introducing Prince Yamcha!" A guard by the door had announced. A young man walked in that was very handsome even though he had a scar on his face. People all over the room started to whisper about him. The only person in the room that wasn't curious or interested was Ouji.

Ouji had been having a good day. Besides that scare with the King and that stupid conversation with his mother the day had been great. The best thing was that everyone was giving Bulma gifts that had nothing to do with music. Bulma was interested in two things at the moment, Music and Him. So at the moment, no one could trump him. He was winning. He thought with a smirk on his face.

King Briefs stood up from his throne and suggested that Bulma should do the same thing. Bulma stood up and began to look confused. She never had to stand up for anyone that had arrived. Every other guest only walked up to her and her parents, presented their gifts and walked away. _'Who is this Prince Yamcha?'_

Yamcha came down the aisle with his head held high then he bowed to the princess and to the king. King Briefs inclined his head to him then spoke. "Bulma my dear, I would like to introduce you to Prince Yamcha." Bunny all of a sudden became teary eyed and someone had to produce handkerchief for her.

Bulma was almost getting worried. Ouji could see the look on her face and the reactions of her parents and he started to worry about his 'great day'.

Yamcha smiled. "It is an honor to finally meet you my Dear."

"It's nice to meet you as well." Bulma said a bit hesitant.

King Briefs turned to Bulma. "My beautiful daughter you have grown up so amazingly and you are 13 now. Almost a woman, so your mother and I thought it was high time for you to meet your betrothed."

Ouji felt like someone just punched him hard in the gut. The logical side of him was telling him, _'Of course she is betrothed. She is a princess after all. These things usually happened_.' But there was another part of him, deep inside of him. Burning in his blood that was telling him, _'I don't care who this clown is. What's mine is mine. And if I have to kill anyone who gets in my way, they will wish they never crossed me.'_

Colly was looking at Ouji and could see the storm of emotions washing over him. _'I'm sorry Vegeta.'_

Bulma was so confused. Her parents had never told her about Yamcha. And although Yamcha was good looking, and seemed like a great guy, she wanted Ouji. She wanted to say thank you but no, but she couldn't do that. There are certain rules when it comes to being a princess. So she decided that she would talk to her parents about this later, but in the meantime, she would play along. "Oh how wonderful. It is lovely to meet you."

Ouji went from glaring at Yamcha to being shocked and looking at Bulma. _'She couldn't be happy about this...Could she?'_

Ouji watched her smile at Yamcha and became disgusted. _'How could she be so sweet and endearing to me then turn around and be that way with him…right in front of me on top of it!' _He wanted to yell at her and ask if she saw him standing there but he knew that it would cause more problems than he needed at the moment.

Yamcha smiled brighter as his bride to be. "I have a gift for you my sweet." He then nodded to one of his servants and the doors swung open to reveal a beautiful harp made out of ivory and jade. "I had heard that you loved music and so I went and found the best and the most beautiful instrument in the world for you."

Bulma gasped and nearly ran down to it. She was so excited to play and run her fingers across the elegantly crafted instrument. "It's absolutely amazing. Truly the best gift I have received today."

Ouji swore that he felt something crumble underneath his chest plate. That was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care about his duty at the moment. If he didn't get out of the room right now he was going to attack Yamcha and destroy Bulma's precious bran new gift. So he walked behind the throne and out of the service entrance in the back.

Colly was the only one who noticed. She couldn't help but feel ashamed. So much so that she wanted to cry. After all, a Prince should never have everything taken away from him…

Ouji stormed his way back to his room in anger. No, 'anger' was not the right word. Furious was pretty good but that still wasn't enough. He was outraged. Outraged and humiliated. She didn't even notice him after that fool came into the hall. He took off his armor and began throwing it around his room not caring at all where it landed. He saw the flute he made for her roll out onto the floor. He stared at it as if it was the cause of his hatred.

_'I spent all that time and all that effort into making this for her. Would she even care if I give it to her now?' He snatched it up off the ground. 'No of course not because the prince of all jerks bought her a stupid harp and she forgets about everything!'_

Her words came rushing back to him.

"...being with you is the best gift that I can get from anybody today."

"That LIAR!" He yelled as he threw the flute against the wall as hard as he could. It shattered into what seemed like a million pieces. He breathed deeply as he realized what he had done. In utter defeat he leaned against the wall and then sat down on his floor. "She completely forgot I existed." He whispered to his lonely self...

A couple hours later Bulma was in her room. She was completely thrown off guard with the whole Yamcha thing, but that didn't matter now. She just wanted to get back to Ouji. But it was so odd; after she had gotten her harp she didn't see him. Her mind was on nothing but him throughout the whole night. Goku had to walk her back to her room. She asked him if he knew what happened, but he had no clue. All he said was, "Gee Bulma I don't know. I was so busy trying to sample everything from that huge buffet. It was pretty amazing. Maybe he got sick or something."

So now she was ready to spend some more time with Ouji. She dismissed all of her attendants and was now ready to go to bed. She sat on her bed and waited for him to knock on her door like he usually did, but nothing happened. _'That's odd he's usually in here by now. Maybe he really is sick.'_

Concerned now, she walked over to the adjoining door and knocked on it. "Ouji?"

She didn't hear anything and knocked again. "Ouji are you in there?"

The door slid open almost violently. Bulma jumped back scared at the sudden movement. She looked up at Ouji determined to yell at him for scaring her but he was looking at her in a way she had never seen before. He looked furious and she didn't understand why. His arms were crossed and his feet were planted to the ground. Bulma was confused. Ouji had been annoyed and even upset with her before but not like this.

"Ouji what's wrong? Is everything alright?"

Vegeta chuckled in an almost scary manner. "Everything is fine Princess."

Bulma blinked. Ouji had never acted this way before. "Why did you leave the party? Are you sick?"

"Never felt better."

Bulma shifted her feet. She didn't understand his behavior. "Ok...Well aren't you coming to bed?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"…Because you are too old to be scared of something crawling under your bed. You said yourself that you are a grown woman now."

What he said was logical but for some reason his words were starting to hurt her. She tucked a stray loose of her behind her ear. "Umm, ok. Well you just want to go to sleep?"

"Well what else am I supposed to do? He snapped.

"You don't want to kiss me again?" She asked trying to hold back tears.

"No. I shouldn't have kissed you in the first place. You are a princess and I am your guard. Nothing can ever come between us."

Bulma had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. With watery eyes she stared into his cold face. "Why are you acting like this?"

He just kept the same cold face as he responded in a very clipped tone, "Acting like what?"

Bulma wasn't in the mood to play his game anymore. It was hurting her too much and she didn't want him to see her cry. She turned away from him and faced her bed. "Never mind. Goodnight Ouji." She heard him grunt then slide the door shut. At his cold dismissal she fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. _'What happened?_'

On the other side of the door Ouji could hear Bulma crying. He didn't want her to cry, he always hated to see her cry, but this had to be done. His mother was right, they couldn't' be together and they would just end up being hurt later on so it's best that it all happens now. He sat down on the bed and looked across his room at the broken pieces of Bulma's flute and sighed heavily.

"I guess we're even."

**Author's Note:** I know some wanted me to drag out their kiddy age a little longer, but this story is mainly about Vegeta getting his stolen life back and so I need them to grow up fast. Plus I still want to keep it in the same format that I wrote it 10 years ago. So about next chapter, since 'friendly' Bulma and Vegeta are over, it's time for the 'arguing' Bulma and Vegeta to take their place in my story. Please review!


	4. Anger

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 4: Anger**

**About 4 years later**

Ouji felt the rays of the sun spilling into the window and groaned as he knew that it was time to get out of bed. He yawned once then rolled right out of bed unto to the floor and immediately began to do his morning push ups. His mother thought he was obsessed with training; which he was. Training was the only thing he could depend on. He knew that as long as kept working on his technique it would improve. It was an uncomplicated and easy truth. The best part about it was that he had no one to depend on but himself. In a world where he had to bow to everyone else and do what others told him, this was something that he could control. He told his body to keep moving even when his body got hurt or was broken. His body was his to control and no one could say otherwise. After about an hour of various exercises he washed up and got dressed. He put on his armor ready to do battle. He placed a scowl on his face and braced himself as he went to the adjoining door.

"Woman are you done yet?"

The door slid open angrily as Bulma glared at her guard. "Must I remind you once more who is over who? I am the Princess and you are my guard. Calling me 'Woman' is not appropriate."

Ouji crossed his arms as he glared at Bulma. "Woman the day you start to act like a princess is the day I will start to treat you and speak to you like one. So why don't you pipe down and do something respectful first? Then maybe I will consider it." He ended with a smirk.

Bulma wanted to slap that smirk right off his face. Every year he became more and more unreasonable. It all had started on her 13th birthday party then everything escalated after that. At first Ouji became cold and distant. He would barely say anything to her. Every time she would try to get him to talk he would act like she was crazy. She tried to be just as stubborn as he was and before she knew it a whole year had passed. And it was on her next birthday that Goku had let something slip...

**-3 Years ago-**

Bulma was with Goku in the garden. Ouji was doing a task for his mother so she was being escorted by his brother instead.

"Are you excited about your party tonight?"

Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose it would be amusing to see what I receive."

Goku kicked a rock that was on the pathway and muttered under his breath, "Too bad you didn't get all of them last year."

Bulma turned her head towards Goku and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean Goku?"

Goku gave a startled look as if he was caught doing the worst thing in the world. "Uh...what? I didn't say anything!" He said waving his hands in front of his face.

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him. "Talk! You know me, I'm not going to get off your back until you tell me what you know." She said sternly. She saw the hesitation in Goku's eyes and added. "It's about Ouji isn't it?" Goku's eyes widened considerably. "Speak or I'll go to him myself and tell him what you said." She said turning around for effect.

Goku hurriedly grabbed her arm. "No. Please don't."

Bulma turned back to him and placed her hands on her hips. "Well?"

Goku looked up to the sky then sighed. "Ouji is going to kill me. But..."

"But what?" Bulma said anxious.

"Ok, last year Ouji made you a gift."

"He what?" Bulma asked in disbelief.

"Yes. He carved a flute out of a branch from one of your trees. It took him weeks to do. Then at the party when he saw Yamcha's gift...I'm not sure why he did it, but he smashed the flute. And that's all I know I swear."

Bulma could not believe what Goku had just told her. _'Ouji was jealous of Yamcha? He made her a gift and destroyed it? Why didn't he talk to her? He must have been terribly hurt when he saw my reaction, and that is why he did not give it to me. He should have said something. I would have cherished his gift. I would not have shunned him away nor would I have chosen Yamcha over him.'_

"Goku, Mother wishes to see you."

Both Bulma and Goku turned to see Ouji come out into the garden towards them. Bulma's heart began beating faster as he approached them. Goku wasted no time and ran back into the palace probably out of fear of his older brother. Ouji raised an eyebrow at him and was about to say something to her, but what it was she would never know as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She knew he was shocked and probably confused since they had been so cold to each other for almost a year. But she could not help herself. All this time she had no idea as to why he acted the way he did. But she understood now. She felt him respond to her and kiss her back, and she nearly melted right then and there.

But as soon as he responded he pulled away from her as if he had been burned. "What are you doing?" He panted.

Bulma stepped towards him and grabbed his hand in both of her palms. "I understand. Goku told me about the flute."

Ouji's eyes widened then he turned to the side. "I'll kill him."

Bulma smiled at him. "Don't. I'm glad he told me. Now we can put this all behind us and-"

"And what?" Ouji asked as he snapped his head back to her.

Bulma flinched. "But...I mean I understand why you feel the way that you-"

Ouji snatched his hand from hers. "You understand nothing Bulma."

Bulma felt her eyes water. "I hurt you. That is what I understand, and I'm sorry. I-"

"It doesn't matter. This thing between us is not going to happen. You need to get over it."

Bulma glared at him with cold anger. "You are an idiot! You do not have to push me away!"

Ouji crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Are you done acting like a child? We both have more important things to do then to put your feelings on a pedestal."

Bulma could not believe his harsh words. She had stepped out and put her feelings out there for him and he slapped it all away. "Fine have it your way. I hope you enjoy being alone Ouji." She said turning her back on him. She started walking back into the palace, but not before hearing Ouji say, "I do."

**-Present**

Bulma was still angry that she had kissed him till this very day. And she took it out on him every chance she got. The problem was that he always fired back. But she knew how to rattle him. She lifted her eyebrow and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ouji did I ever tell you that you look so sexy when you are angry?"

Ouji's cheeks turned red with a blush, and he quickly gave her his back. "Just hurry up and get dressed you vulgar Woman."

"I am dressed." Bulma smirked.

"Then lets go. I've had enough of your foolish games!" Ouji said as he led her out her door and practically stomped his way to breakfast. After he left her with her parents he headed towards the Garden to get some much needed sparring in with his brother.

"Hey Ouji how was breakfast?"

"I didn't eat with them."

"You mean you didn't eat at all?" He asked in disbelief. How anyone could skip a meal was beyond him. He looked at his brother and saw how angry he was then sighed. "You and Bulma get into it again?"

"Shut up and fight!" Ouji said as he aimed a punch in his brother's face. Goku giggled and stepped away.

"Come now Brother, surely you can do better than that. But then again, you were always sloppy when Bulma got under your skin."

"Shut your mouth!" Ouji yelled as the both of them began trading blows. Ouji quickly got the upper hand and landed a punch in Goku's side. He smirked and said, "Come now Goku! Surely you can do better than that!" .

"You know you talk like i've never beaten you before." Goku said as he side stepped Ouji and turned to do a leg swipe.

Ouji jumped backwards and got back into another fighting stance. "Yes sadly, you are naturally talented and sometimes you get lucky, but your technique could always use some work." Ouji said as he blocked another attack from Goku. They kept fighting for what seemed like an hour until Ouji flipped Goku on his back.

Goku had all of the wind knocked out of him and was downright sore. "Ok I give, I give."

Ouji was glad to hear that because he honestly didn't know how much longer he was going to last. Goku had un natural strength that was particularly hard to keep up with. He joked around all the time that he was holding back, but the truth was he never held back when it came to Goku. For some reason he just felt like he had to be the best at everything, and he didn't even want his brother to beat him. No especially his brother.

"Hey Ouji?" Goku asked as he got back up.

"What?"

"Do you think they will ever let us leave out of here?"

"No. Or at least they will never let me leave out of here."

"But they let other palace guards go outside the palace. They won't even let us look over the walls." Goku said as he looked at the giant walls that were meant to keep intruders out. But instead it always felt like it kept them in.

Ouji always thought it was ridiculous himself. And he had always planned to escape one day, but there was a certain distraction that had him there. "Well, perhaps when Bulma is married to Prince Yamyuck, they will let us out of here."

Goku laughed at the name that his brother made up for Prince Yamcha. He then rubbed his head and frowned. "The first thing i'm gonna do is let my hair grow out."

Ouji chuckled because he had always thought the same thing. His mother always cut their hair when they were young. And when he got old enough to cut his own hair and didn't, the King put out a rule that the guards hair must not be longer than 3 inches because he thought the guards looked more organized that way. Ridiculous. Its, not like a hair style would help you fight better.

"Haha i would love to see the both of you with long flowing hair."

The boys turned to see Bulma standing in a pink Kimono. Ouji looked at her once and then turned away again. Bulma just rolled her eyes. She knew he was just as much attracted to her as she was to him. They were practically adults. She could not understand why he would act so childish sometimes. He would be 18 tomorrow for crying out loud.

Goku smiled at his friend. "Hey Bulma. I've been trying to get Ouji in a good mood especially since tomorrow is his birthday, but he doesn't seem to care."

"Its just another day. Except you eat a cake." Ouji said as he turned back around.

"Yeah but you're going to be 18. You are recognized as a man." Goku said assuredly.

"Please, I've been a man since I've been born."

Bulma laughed. "Wow someone has an ego."

Ouji glared at her. "You're one to talk."

Bulma flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Im a princess, i'm suppose to have an ego."

"Yes I believe they invented the word just for you."

"Hey guys! Don't fight again. I swear that's all you guys do." Goku said frowning.

Bulma and Ouji made eye contact and looked away. They knew that it was impossible for the two of them to be in the same room without eventually fighting. Bulma turned her attention back to Goku. "By the way, Goku your mother wants you."

"Oh ok. Well I'll see you guys later." He said right before he left.

An awkward silence was left in the garden. Bulma finally broke it by saying,"He's right you know."

"Right about what?"

"You know what I'm talking about Ouji. What is going on between us?"

"Theres nothing going on. And even if there was it doesn't matter because next year you will be married to that loser." Ouji bit out.

"Stop it. You do not have the right to be jealous of Yamcha when you pushed me away for the past 4 years."

"I'm not jealous." Ouji growled out.

"Yes you are. And you never had any reason to be. I never wanted to be with Yamcha. I wanted to be with you."

Ouji crossed his arms and looked away from the Princess. Bulma stepped forward and said the words that she always wanted to say but was too prideful to. "I...Still want to be with you."

Ouji's eyes widened at that. For years he had been trying to get her to hate him. He kept telling himself that it was easier this way. Neither of them could get hurt, and they could go on with their lives without any attachments. But the blasted Woman kept making it harder. She would flirt with him consistently and argue with him to get his attention. And he kept giving into her. Enjoying every second of it. He found himself wanting to do battle with her. Perhaps he was only fooling himself. But none of that mattered because within a year, she would be married off and he more than likely would never see her again.

"Well you don't have a choice now do you?"

Bulma ignored his comment and stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his chest. He flinched, but he didn't push her away. "If we only have a year left then lets not waste it." She said as she pressed her lips to his.

Ouji hated that she did that, but at the same time he could not push her away. Just like the last time he gave in.

_'Blast her.'_

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. He didn't understand why his life had to be so complicated. All he had to do was watch over her and not touch her, but she made it so hard. She was the only reason why he didn't climb over that wall to search for a new life. She was a distraction to a possible life outside of this palace. If he could fly away and not look book he would. There is nothing for him here. But she just kept pulling on him. She was like an addiction he just couldn't shake. He couldn't stand to be around her yet he had to be near her. Sure it was his job, but it was more than that. He wanted to be around her. He wanted to be her guard, and part of him hated her for that. But at the same time, another part craved her even more.

She pulled away to breathe. It had been so long since they had done that. Today was unquestionably an enjoyable day. She thought he was going to turn away from her and claim that it would never happen again like he did before, but she was pleasantly surprised when he pulled her back for another kiss. She felt so delightful being in his arms. The way he touched her; It made her feel like she could do anything.

He pulled away this time, but he still held her. "Why do you do this to me?" He said as he looked into her eyes. "You torture me every day. I hate you and want you all at the same time." He kissed her again, drowning in her warm lips. It felt like soft petals against his own that gave out sweet nectar that he could never tire of. He realized at that moment that there was no way that he could let her be with any other man but him. He would have to think of something later because he certainly couldn't think of anything at the moment.

Then all of a sudden an arrow struck the tree next to them. Ouji spun around and pushed Bulma to the ground and readied his sword for any on coming attacks. He did a quick check and knew that who ever fired that arrow had already gone. He then turned to Bulma and helped her up. "Are you alright Bulma?"

"Yes, yes i'm fine." She said a little shaken.

After he looked her over he then analyzed the weapon that was sticking out of the tree., There was a parchment wrapped around the arrow. Ouji took the parchment off and unrolled it. He read the message over and over trying to make sense of it, but only became more confused.

Bulma stepped up to him concerned. "What does it say?"

Ouji shook his head then turned to her and said,

"I found you your highness."

**Author's Note:** Next chapter Vegeta will find out the truth of his past. It is going to be very exciting...please Review!


	5. Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 5: Truth**

Ouji couldn't help but think of how strange that message was. Everyone knew that the Brief Princess lived in the Brief palace so it didn't make any sense that someone would leave a message saying 'I found you'.

He was standing in front of the king, watching him pace back and forth after he had just explained to him what happened. King Brief had sent guards to try and track down the shooter but they both knew that whoever it was, was probably long gone by now.

King Brief stopped his pacing and called forth another guard. "Send for the Queen, Bulma, Colly and Goku immediately." The guard then bowed and left to fulfill the King's wishes.

Ouji raised an eyebrow at that. "Sire why do you need to call for all of them? Surely this person is delusional. It was probably a child or teenager that climbed the wall and wanted to get a good scare out of the princess."

The King looked at Ouji sadly. "I'll explain in a moment."

That comment did nothing but made Ouji even more confused than he already was_. 'There is more to this thing? What could the King know? Did I miss something in the parchment that he didn't?'_

Within a matter of minutes everyone was present and the King re-told the story that Ouji had just told him. The worried faces on the adults in the room didn't go unnoticed by the late teens. The King gave a stern look and stared at the Queen and Colly. "Now is the time to tell him."

The Queen nodded and Colly began to cry. She knew that this day was coming, but she could never prepare for it. After all, how can you tell your child that you're not his mother?

Ouji shifted his weight from one foot to the other in anxiousness. He had never seen his mother like this and he still had no clue what was going on. Goku didn't know why his mother was upset but he placed a comforting hand on her back regardless. Bulma began biting her lip nervously. She didn't know what was going to happen next, all she knew was that it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Ouji couldn't stand it any longer and with as little patience as possible he said, "Your highness forgive me, but what is it that you must tell me?"

The King turned his attention to Ouji and squared his shoulders. "Ouji it is very hard to explain, but this note was not written for Bulma,…It was written for you."

The teenagers were even more confused especially Ouji. "What do you mean it was meant for me? Last time I checked I wasn't royalty."

Colly finally was able to stop her crying and speak up. "You are. You are."

Everyone was silent after that small confession. Ouji was having a hard time breathing as he felt like the floor fell from underneath him. It was like he someone took a mask off his face that he didn't even know he was wearing. _'I'm a royal?'_

Bulma's mouth was hanging open not believing what she had just heard. Her body guard and love of her life was actually a prince? How could this be possible? What in the world was going on?

Goku was the only one who could find his tongue. "So Ouji and I are royalty?"

Colly began to cry again as King Briefs answered him. "No Goku. Only Ouji."

Ouji closed his eyes as he took in what was being said to him. He thought of all the times his mother favored Goku over him and how she looked at him with such fear and respect sometimes. As if, as if she was waiting for him to tell her to bow to him. And she always looked like she would be willing to do it; almost like she wasn't his mother at all. His theory seemed like it was about to be true as he opened his eyes and saw Colly cry even harder. "You're not my mother are you?"

She sobbed hard. "No. I'm not."

Goku looked so sad as if he was a kid who just got his favorite toy taken away. "It can't be true."

Ouji exploded, "Of course it can! But why lie about it?"

King Brief was almost startled by his booming voice. It was like he became his father the late King Vegeta in a matter of seconds. "It was very dangerous for your identity to be found out. We had to protect you."

"Who. Am. I?" Ouji seethed.

Bunny finally stepped forward. "You are Vegeta. The Prince of all Saiyans."

Vegeta took a step back in disbelief. It was like the room was painted black and everyone had disappeared for a moment. Nothing was there in the room except him and the truth. He thought about all the times his mother and his teachers would talk about the destroyed Saiyan civilization. They always spoke of it like a fairy tale. About how some evil monster burned it to the ground, but the crown prince would one day return and claim what was rightfully his. The whole time he thought he was just hearing a story, and this whole time they were literally telling him his history.

Vegeta did the one thing that everyone expected him not to. He laughed. Maniacally.

Everyone was driven into an awkward silence as they watched the lost prince laugh at his knew found truth. He thought the whole thing was hilarious. Of course he was a prince! He never once felt like a servant. It was deep in his blood and his soul was trying to get his attention this entire time but he never paid enough attention to it, because everyone around him kept feeding him the lie that he was a pauper.

Once he finally calmed down he looked at the King and shook his head. "So let me get the straight. You raised me to be your daughter's body guard so that I could get the same training I would have gotten if I were to be raised in my own palace?"

"Yes." King Brief said.

Vegeta clapped his hands in the eerie silence. "Bravo! Brilliant plan. Very clever."

Colly recognized the disrespect as the first step to a blowout rage. So she knew she had to calm him down. "Ouji please under-"

"That is not my name! You all have lied to me since I was a child!" Vegeta exploded once more.

Goku looked at him with sad eyes. "I never lied to you."

Vegeta turned his head to him. "Unfortunately you did. Every time you called me your brother you lied. You just didn't know because my fake mother told you to call me that. So tell me Colly…"

Colly winced at Vegeta using her actual name instead of calling her mother.

"… in the story there was a maid that saved the babe from the destruction. Was that you?"

"No that was me. I was your mother's maid." Bunny said.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the Queen for a moment as another thought came to him then he turned his attention back to the King. "I see. I guess you must have placed the 'Royalty must marry royalty law' after the two of you got married. I guess I shall add hypocrites to the name calling as well."

King Brief's eyes widened at his disrespect. "Vegeta that is enough. Everything we have done has been to protect you!"

"Yes of course. All the training, the teaching, the stupid haircuts, the rules of not going outside the palace walls; It all makes sense now. But tell me Colly where do you fit in the tale?" He asked turning his eyes back to his adopted mother.

Colly felt so emotionally torn. She knew that Vegeta would be upset but nothing could prepare her for how cold he was being to her. Vegeta was her leader, but he was still her son in her eyes. She had a hard time following his orders when only moments ago he would never have yelled at her in that sort of manner. "I was the wife to the head general. He died in battle and I came here while I was pregnant with Goku..." She looked sadly at her son and gave him a watery smile. "I was going to name you Kakarot."

Vegeta had heard enough from her. He couldn't stand to see her emotions for Goku, no…'Kakarot' at the moment. He hated her. He was tired of looking at her. He then turned to the one person he had not spoken to. "Bulma, I'm only going to ask you this once. Did you know?"

Bulma shook her head. "No, no I didn't." She felt so bad for Vegeta and everyone else in the room. She didn't know what to say to anyone about this. It had to have been the most unpredictable thing in the world that was happening to all of them at the moment…especially to Ouji.

Vegeta stared into her eyes and looked away as he saw no lie in them. He then set his jaw as he said, "So just to clarify things, Bulma has everything as usual, Goku…I'm sorry, Kakarot, has his lovely mother, and I have nothing but a title and a long lost tale." He spat.

Colly looked up at him sadly and tried to reach for him. "That's not true. You still have me."

Vegeta sneered in disgust at her and stepped away from her. "I. Don't. Want. You. That's why this all makes so much sense, because I never once felt like you were mother. My mother died in a burning palace years ago and you are not her."

Goku narrowed his eyes at his brother as his mother began to cry harder. He didn't like how he was treating her. "Hey! She's trying to help."

"Of course she is." Vegeta said sarcastically.

King Brief shook his head at Vegeta's behavior. "Vegeta, you don't just have a title. The Saiyan Empire had a lot of friends; I was merely one of them. After we heard about what happened, we banned together, and made an inheritance for you so that you can reestablish your kingdom."

Vegeta crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Charity how wonderful."

"No, not charity, King Vegeta was very good at sending out his people and networking and making his fortune grow. As well as making everyone he came in contact rich as well. We are simply giving you the riches that were owed to your father."

Vegeta looked to the side and closed his eyes as he gathered his thoughts. Then he opened them and gave the King a stern look. "Good I want that as soon as possible. I will use it to seek out revenge on the monster that took everything from me."

Everyone was silent once again until the King finally responded with, "You-you can't be serious?"

"Why not? I've studied my history. I know that everyone on this planet is afraid of that Northern tyrant. Perhaps if you all weren't, and would have helped, then I wouldn't even be here right now."

"That's not fair. You know that Frieza used sneaky methods to overtake the Saiyans. If they would have fought face to face, He would have failed. But you don't have the resources and the people to take him on. You must wait and have patience."

Vegeta stepped forward and glared at the King. "I will seek Frieza out and I will kill him. And you can no longer do anything to stop me. I'm done here."

And with that he left out of the room leaving everyone in a cold silence. Bunny was ringing the sleeve of her clothes she was so on edge. She finally couldn't take it anymore and threw her hands in the air. "Shouldn't someone go to him?"

Goku wasn't going to hesitate any longer. "I will. I don't care what the truth is. He is still my brother."

When Goku left out of the room Bulma turned to her parents outraged. "How could you!? How could you do this?"

"We had to protect him." King Brief said dumfounded at his daughter's reaction.

"You could have told him the truth. He still would have been raised here."

"We couldn't risk anyone finding out."

Bulma's lip began to tremble and her shoulders shook as she whispered out, "But why father?"

"Why what?"

Bulma had been silent throughout the whole confession because her mind was whirring with so many questions. But the question that resurfaced the most was now on her lips. "If you knew that Ouji was a prince, then why did you promise me to Yamcha? I love him. You know I do."

Bunny ran over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her as she began to cry. "I'm sorry my daughter. But this was already decided long before you were born. You see Vegeta is promised to someone else. This was something his parents had decided before they had died. It wasn't something that we could change."

"He is betrothed to someone else?" Bulma just cried harder. She couldn't believe it. This must have been how he felt when he found out about Yamcha. It was like her heart was taken away from her. She couldn't breathe for a moment. For the first time she understood what he was going through. "I have to go to him."

Bunny wiped her daughter's tears away with her fingers and said, "He's really upset now; perhaps you should talk to him another time."

"No he needs me." Bulma said as she stepped away from her mother. "I can't leave him. Not when he needs me the most." Before anyone could say anything else to her she ran out the room.

Colly finally had calmed down and walked over to her royal friends. "This is such a mess."

The King sighed in frustration. He thought he would feel some type of relief after the truth was out but he actually felt so stressed that he was worried that he was going to be sick after this. "This is indeed quite the situation. But there's nothing we can do about it. Bulma is promised to Yamcha, and Vegeta is promised to Chichi..."

**Meanwhile**

Goku looked around the palace garden hoping to find his brother. He just knew he had to be in there somewhere. He sighed with relief when he finally found him sitting against a tree. "Ouji! There you are. I've-"

"That is not my name." Vegeta clipped out. "Don't you dare call me that ever again. My name is Vegeta." He then frowned at his former brother. "…Kakarot."

Goku winced at the name but decided to let it go for now. "Look, I know you're upset but things don't have to change. We are still brothers-"

"No we are not!" Vegeta yelled as he got to his feet. "We never were!" Vegeta then pointed an angry finger toward the palace and shook with rage. "That liar in there-"

"Hey that's not fair!"

"Fair? FAIR!? I'll tell you what's not fair. Having everything you ever wanted in life trapped in a fairy tale, and never truly being able to fully grasp it. Being raised a low level soldier when I'm actually a prince. While everyone around me is taunting me and humiliating me with a life that I had known all along that I should have had. But you all kept parading it in my face; you with your mother and Bulma with her fame, fortune, and glory while I was made to watch all of you in the shadows. Being made a fool, lied to my face every single day of my life and denied everything I ever wanted, but no more and never again. From now on, I will be no one's servant. I am Vegeta prince of all Saiyans and my pride will bring honor to my people once again."

Goku took in his words and he could see how serious he was. He should have been angry that his family wanted to cast him and his mother aside after all the years they had shared together, but deep down, he only felt bad for him. He loved him and that was never going to change.

"You're still my big brother."

Vegeta blinked as he was surprised at his answer. Then he became angry all over again. "Shut up!" He reared back and punched him in the jaw knocking Goku down to the ground. "Come on! Get up and fight me."

Goku looked up at his brother and shook his head. He knew that Ouji was trying to block him out by fighting him, but he wasn't going to give in. He had to realize that things were not going to change between them. "No. I won't fight you. Not like this."

"Come on Kakarot! Stand up for yourself for once in your life. Or do you like being lied to like a fool? As if you were the King's jester. Do you like being a clown?" He said as he kicked him in his side. "Get up and fight me!"

"No! You're still my brother. I love you."

"Stop calling me that!" He said as he kicked him again. "Get up!"

Goku shook his head no. Then Vegeta got angry and picked him up and threw him against the tree that he was sitting against earlier. He punched him again but this time in his gut. Goku coughed as his breath was taken from him. "Fight back!"

"No!"

Vegeta punched him again across his face. "You better do something Kakarot because I won't stop!" He said with a knee to his gut.

Goku spit up blood this time, but he still wouldn't give in. "No. I won't fight you this way. No matter what, I'll never look at you differently. I don't care what our past really is, you will always be my family."

Vegeta grabbed him by his collar and raised his fist to give him another blow, but instead he tossed him to the side and leaned his forehead against the tree. "Get away from me."

Goku didn't respond to him, he only carefully got up off the ground and walked away. Halfway to the palace he met Bulma and she gasped in shock as she saw his state. He only shook his head at her and went on his way.

Bulma seeing that Goku was not up for talking ran over to Vegeta. "Ouji what have you done to-"

"What is the matter with you people? That is not my name. Stop calling me that." He demanded as he turned around to face Bulma.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say, 'who do you think you are' but she had to remind herself that she was no longer talking to a servant, but a fellow royal. She bit back what she wanted to say and decided to try and reason with him. "Alright Vegeta. I understand that-

"You don't understand anything and couldn't even begin to comprehend what I'm going through so don't even attempt to do so."

Bulma bit her lip as she tried not to argue with him again and decided try a different approach. "You're right I don't understand what you're going through, but what I do understand is that you shouldn't go through it alone." She stepped towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm here."

Vegeta winced at her and turned his head. "You all lied to me-"

"Don't!" Bulma yelled. "Don't you dare judge me for something that I had no control of!" Vegeta crossed his arms in defense as Bulma continued. "If I knew for one second that you were a prince I never would have once treated you like my bodyguard. And if you remember correctly there was a time when I didn't." She said softer.

Vegeta turned his head back to her. "But you still did-"

Vegeta was cut off as warm lips silenced him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around his waist. He took advantage of her comfort that he felt coming from her warm body. He swore he could have kissed her for all eternity if he could.

Bulma pulled away from him and stared deeply into his eyes. "I always wanted you to be my equal. I still do."

Vegeta sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "Your timing is awful Woman. I don't have time for this right now."

"Yes you do!" Bulma said excitedly. "You can get your inheritance and we can run away together."

Vegeta stared into her eyes and saw the emotion that she held for him. After all these years he couldn't understand why she would want him. He never treated her like he should have, but she still wanted him. He wasn't sure why but he never really questioned it. He only tried to ignore her and her feelings. He couldn't lie to himself, there were plenty of times where he had dreamed of taking Bulma and escaping over those walls to see what life had for him out there and leave everything behind except for her. But now things were different. Now he was different. He stepped away from her.

"Bulma I must go after Frieza."

Bulma blinked in confusion. She had thought for sure that Vegeta would want to be with her now. "You…you mean to tell me that you would rather seek vengeance than to be with me?"

Vegeta squared his shoulders. "I am the Prince of all Saiyans and I must avenge my people and-"

This time Vegeta was cut off by a slap across his face.

"You selfish jerk! You would rather chase vengeance for ghosts then to live with me? I came out here to tell you that I would go against my parents' wishes to be with you and-"

"You dare call me selfish?" Vegeta yelled back.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me Princess. All this has happened to me and all you care about is your own future. Be honest, you're out here because I'm something that you wanted that you couldn't have. Princess Bulma gets everything she wants except for her guard. It must have driven you crazy not having everything. I didn't really think of it before but it all seems pretty clear now. You're out here because you finally think you can get the toy that was always taken away from you. You're out here because-"

"I'm out here because I LOVE YOU!" Bulma screamed. She couldn't take his ridiculous explanation any longer.

Vegeta was speechless after that. His view on love was completely torn away from him after he realized that he lived in a world of lies and distrust. Even though Bulma was innocent in this whole fiasco, he still couldn't help but to not trust her fully either. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why would you have such an emotion for me? I have done nothing to deserve it."

"You've done everything to deserve it. You are the most honorable man that I have ever known. I fell for you the day you chased away my monsters from under my bed."

Vegeta snorted at that. "You were a mere child."

"A child can love too." Bulma placed her hands on his chest in all seriousness. "I'll never leave you Vegeta. You have to know that. While I am still breathing you will never be alone."

Vegeta winced at that. He did feel alone but he didn't mind it. He couldn't understand the emotion that flooded him when she said those words to him. But even though her confession was sweet, he still had other things to do. He grabbed her hands from his chest and stared into her gorgeous eyes. "I must avenge my people."

"No-"

"Bulma you must listen to me-"

"No! That will take years and I am betrothed to Yamcha. If you wait too long you will lose me. I can't marry another man Vegeta."

"I won't let you." He said as he ceased her arms. "No one will ever have you but me. Do you understand?" Even though he still had his issues, he had made a promise to himself earlier that he was going to have Bulma and that was the end of it. She belonged to him.

"But-"

"But nothing Woman. I will be back in time. But I must do this first."

Bulma didn't say another word as she kissed him once more. She had this deep fear that he was going to leave her and she would never see him again. She couldn't let that happen. She loved him too much. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Vegeta held her close as he kissed her. He was never going to let this woman slip into another man's hands. She was his. End of story. But first he had a tyrant to kill and he was not going to rest until the blood of his people were satisfied with revenge. Ouji was dead. Long live Vegeta.

**Author's Note:** Next chapter the adventure begins. Please review.


	6. Start

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 6: Start**

The King hesitated as he handed the map over to Vegeta but there was nothing he could do. Vegeta now knew that he had no authority over him. Vegeta had every right to do whatever he pleased. "I only had some of your financial inheritance. If you follow this map it will lead you to where you need to go next. It will take time to find the remaining Saiyans. So many of them died in the battle. Most of the survivors were children. They are spread out but most of them reside with the Ox King. If vengeance it truly what you seek, I will go to him next."

"Good." Vegeta said as he took the map and placed it inside his breastplate. He turned on his heel to leave out the room until the king placed his hand on Vegeta's shoulder to stop him.

"But I do have one favor to ask of you before you go."

Vegeta was still salty towards the king and shrugged his hand off his shoulder. "And why should I grant you any-"

"It's about Bulma." the King almost seethed. He was not used to being disrespected and Vegeta had been doing it ever since he found out the truth.

Vegeta saw the frustration on the Kings face but that only made his own grow. He knew that the king had to have known about the feelings that he and Bulma had shared, so why in the world did they throw Prince Yamcha in his face he had no idea and he didn't really care to find out. In his opinion, they could have handled this situation a whole better than what they did. "What is it?"

"It's not safe here anymore. My home could be raided and if that was to happen I want my daughter to be nowhere near here. Please escort her to Prince Yamcha."

"You mean for her to marry now?" Vegeta nearly yelled.

"No, I already sent word to him. He's only to look after her."

He knew that the old man was trying to protect his investment. The scared part was only probably partly true. Dr. Brief wanted to make sure that Bulma ended up with the man he chose her to be with. Perhaps he thought him not good enough for his daughter. He didn't care about finding out the reason before but since the doc was going there anyways.

"Tell me something...if you knew this whole time that I was a prince, and you respected my father so much, then why have Bulma be betrothed to someone else?"

The king blinked at Vegeta as realization came to him. He now understood some of the reasoning behind Vegeta's rudeness. "Because you are betrothed to someone else."

"What are you talking about?"

King Brief sighed. "The Ox King's daughter; you were promised to her as soon as she was born only a few months after you. It was something that your parents had arranged. I could not interfere with your parents' wishes. I raised you like one of my own. I would never have considered Yamcha if it were not for your betrothal. You are a fine man Vegeta. You would have made my daughter happy."

"I see." Vegeta said feeling a little regret for how he had treated the king. But then again, that was a result due to one of the many secrets that were kept from him. But betrothed or not, he was going to mate with who he wanted. "Well I should be off then." He said turning once more.

"Vegeta wait," Vegeta stopped his footsteps. "Your father was a great and powerful warrior; I don't want you to-"

"I will defeat Frieza. Don't you dare doubt that." Vegeta said over his shoulder as he walked out the throne room. Once he was in the hall he was met with Kakarot standing outside the doors waiting for him. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going with you." Kakarot said as he adjusted his armor. He was still supporting bruises from his fight with Vegeta, and part of him was angry with him but he still saw Vegeta as his brother.

"I didn't ask for your help Kakarot."

"Well you're getting it whether you like it or not."

Vegeta didn't feel like fighting him again and rolled his eyes. "Fine then. But you better keep up or I swear I will leave you behind. This isn't a training regimen. This is for real."

Kakarot only nodded and began to follow after his brother who was determined to leave the palace. But they both stopped once they saw Colly step out of a room into the large hall.

"Vegeta?"

Vegeta paused his stride but then kept walking. It was still awkward seeing Colleen. He was angry that she wasn't his mother and he was angry that she didn't do a good enough job when she played the part as well. All those jealousy issues he had of Kakarot were technically non-existent because the woman he wanted more affection from wasn't his mother in the first place. He had all those left over emotions and he didn't know where to place them. "I have to go-"

"Sire!"

Vegeta stopped at that. It was the first time that anyone had addressed him so. He told himself that he only turned around out of sheer curiosity. Then his eyes became large as he watched the woman he called "mother" bow before him.

Colleen was crying once again. She knew Vegeta was angry at her but she didn't want him to leave out hating her especially since she didn't know if she would ever see him again. "I understand that you hate me. But you must know that I only did so to protect you. You are my king and it has been an honor serving you."

Vegeta had thought those words would have felt better coming from her, but it didn't. It actually only made him feel worse. He knelt down before her and lifted her face up by her chin. He spoke quietly to her so that no one else could hear as he stared into her sadly hopeful eyes. "I could never hate you Colly."

Colleen let the tears fall from her eyes as she bowed her head once more. That one sentence was a lot more than she thought she would ever get.

Vegeta stood up and left out not wanting to be there any longer. He just had to get out of there. Goku went to his mother and she hugged him. He hugged her back and smiled. "We'll be back soon mother. And don't worry about Ouji. He'll come around."

Colleen shook her head and pulled away from Goku. She wasn't a fool, she knew her adopted son. What just happened was the closest he would ever allow her to get for the rest her life. "Goku, you must watch over Vegeta. He is our Prince. He must be protected at all costs. Your father was a general and I have no doubt in my mind that you and your brother Raditz would have fallen in his footsteps. That's what our family does; we protect. Now you must do the same. Make sure you both stay safe."

Goku hugged his mother one last time as he thought of her words. He still couldn't believe that Ouji wasn't his brother and that he had another one out there somewhere. He couldn't help but hope that he would come across him in his journey. "I will protect him Mother. I promise."

**Outside**

Bulma was already inside her carriage glaring evilly at everyone that came in her eyesight. Once she saw Vegeta she crossed her arms and looked at him warily. Vegeta walked up to the carriage and sat down inside across from her.

"What is going on Vegeta? Please tell me that we are going to take a different route and that I am not going to Yamcha's?"

Vegeta watched as Kakarot walked out and climbed on top of the driver's seat next to another guard. Then Vegeta turned to Bulma and narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes you are."

Bulma was silent for a moment and then she exploded. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Bulma you-"

"No! I am not going to him when I belong with you."

The carriage began to move and Vegeta lowered his voice so that no one would hear from outside. "It's only for a small amount of time. I will come for you when the time is right."

Bulma shook her head in disbelief of the situation. She finally got him to realize that they belong together and now he was leaving her with her fiancé purposely. "Vegeta please don't do this. If you go after Frieza you could die."

"I won't."

"You can't possibly know that!" She said hitting the sides of the cushion.

"I know it because I can't!" Vegeta yelled to her and to himself.

"You're not immortal Vegeta."

"I can't die. I refuse to believe that I survived a burning palace only to live in the shadows. I will prevail Bulma." He said in the most assuring voice he could muster.

Bulma looked out the window while trying her best attempt at blinking her tears away. She couldn't believe that he was throwing away their best opportunity to be with each other. "If you die Vegeta, I'll never forgive you."

Vegeta looked out the opposite window. He should have been enjoying the view. It was their first time out of the palace but all he and Bulma could do was be upset with one another. The scenery was beautiful with all the trees and plant life, but it seemed gloomy and a bit dark to the two passengers. Neither wanted to leave the other. But that's what was about to happen.

When they arrived at Yamcha's kingdom Vegeta sneered in disgust. He couldn't stand him. He hated everything he saw, from the people to the elaborate buildings. Yamcha was always a boasting fool and his kingdom mirrored that greatly with the many draping's and loud coloring that the people wore. Vegeta decided that his new palace would be sleek and clean. There was no need for flashy attire. When the carriage stopped at Yamcha's elaborate palace he was already outside to greet them.

Bulma turned to her love one last time to plead with him. "Vegeta I am begging you; please don't make me do this." He had no idea how difficult it is for her to pretend to have interest in Yamcha while she was truly in love with Vegeta.

Vegeta only gave her a stone cold look. "It's time to go Princess." He ended as he opened the door and stepped out. He reached out his hand and Bulma hesitated as she put hers in his and helped her out of the carriage.

"Ah my lovely bride it is good to see you again." Yamcha said as he bowed to her.

"Prince Yamcha." Bulma smiled at him and bowed.

Yamcha glanced at Vegeta. "You may go now." He said waving his hand in a shooing manner to Vegeta.

Vegeta sneered at Yamcha and smacked his hand away. Yamcha took a step back and his guards that were present drew their swords. "Have you lost your mind attacking a prince? A commoner-"

"I am no commoner! I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans!" Vegeta yelled back at the prince.

The guards look confused at what to do and Yamcha had a blank look on his face as well that is until he tilted his head back and busted into a fit of laughter. "Bulma I don't remember your guard being so funny."

"He's telling the truth." Bulma said as she looked at Vegeta admiringly. Yamcha's laughter instantly died down as Bulma continued. "He is the lost prince. My parents were hiding him from Frieza. He was a royal this whole time."

"What? I don't believe it." Yamcha said as he now looked at Vegeta in a new light. He had seen him many times but he never paid any attention to him until now.

Vegeta smirked at the look on his face. "Believe it Yamyuck."

"It is Prince Yamcha." Yamcha said glaring.

"And it's Prince Vegeta." Vegeta said as he glared back.

Yamcha decided that royal or not, he did not like him. "Forgive me for not opening my doors to a fellow royal but I only prepared a welcome for my fiancé." He said with emphasis. He never saw Vegeta as a threat before, but now that he knew that his betrothed had been around a potential husband her whole life other than himself, it kind of set him on defensive mode.

Vegeta liked that Yamcha finally saw him as a threat because he had every reason to be afraid. "If I wanted to go through your doors I would simply burst through them and take what I want." He said letting his eyes slide to Bulma. Bulma's breath hitched as Vegeta stared at her intently. Kakarot who was watching the whole thing let his hand slide to his sword just in case something was about to jump off.

Everyone knew what Vegeta meant by that comment and Yamcha did not like that at all. He stepped toward Vegeta ready to defend what belonged to him. "Are you challenging me?"

Vegeta only smirked. "Some other time. I have to go." He nodded his head to Bulma before he turned to leave. He and Kakarot took two horses that had trailed behind the carriage and got on them to leave on their journey.

Bulma followed them with her eyes until she couldn't' see them anymore. She was brought out of her gazing by a fuming Yamcha.

"Has he always been that arrogant?"

"You have no idea." She said as she turned to go towards the palace. She still couldn't believe that Vegeta left her there. _'If you think I'm going to stay here while you go on an adventure you have another thing coming. I'll find you Vegeta. All I have to do is sneak away and that won't be hard at all...'_

**Later**

"Vegeta? Vegeta stop!" Goku yelled. He and Vegeta had been riding hard nonstop for hours. Vegeta was so dead set on getting to the Ox King that they hadn't stopped since they left Yamcha's.

Vegeta stopped his horse and Goku came up next to him. "What is it?"

"We have been riding for hours. Can we please stop to eat?"

Vegeta growled in annoyance. "No I told you I would leave you behind and I meant it. Now come on, The Ox King is only 10 minutes away."

"But I'm hungry."

"We can eat there!" Vegeta said annoyed as he kicked his horse once more.

Goku was so hungry he was almost ready to eat his own horse. So he was excited to see the Ox Kings castle about ten minutes later. "Hey Vegeta, why don't you go hurry up and talk to the Ox King and I'll take the horses to the stable. The sooner you talk to him the faster we can eat." He said hurriedly.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. And got off his horse. The Ox King was not expecting him and didn't even know who he was. If he would have stormed the castle with his horse he could possibly be shot down. So Kakarot did make some sense, especially since the stables were right next to the castle. "By the time you have the horses put up I would have already informed the Ox King of who I am so just come inside."

"Goku only nodded and went straight to the stables. He was surprised to find it practically empty. There was only a girl brushing down a horse inside.

"Who are you; I've never seen you here before."

The girl was a young pretty black haired girl. And Goku became a bit nervous at her commanding tone. "I uh...just came from Brief Kingdom. I need to see the Ox King about something important."

The girls eyes grew large and she dropped the brush that she was holding. "You are from Brief Kingdom? Are you a Saiyan?"

Goku nodded his head hesitantly. He then became confused as the girl began to blush profusely as she walked towards him and stopped a foot away.

"I have been waiting for you to come for a long time."

Goku blinked at her confused. "I thought no one knew that I was coming here?"

"Oh I know everything. My father told me about it all and how you were raised in the Brief's palace as a guard."

Goku rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You know who I am?"

"Yes I do. I've dreamt of this moment for a long time. Have you?"

Goku blinked a couple times. "Well, I always wanted to leave the palace but-"

Chichi raised a hand to stop him. "You don't have to explain. I understand."

"You do?"

"Yes. Destiny has brought us here. We were meant to find each other."

"We what?" Goku asked even more confused.

"Yes. You survived something terrible to live again and now you are here with me." She said stepping towards him so that they were even closer.

Goku gulped. "I think that-that...um...I don't know what to say."

"I don't really either. I mean what are you supposed to say to your future husband?"

"Hus-husband?" Goku asked as his eyes became wide.

"I'm sorry, is that too fast?"

"Yeah I think so. I mean you are very pretty, but I don't know-"

"Am I not pretty enough for you?" The girl asked offended.

Goku became panicked. "No you are. You are very beautiful. I would be happy to marry you." Goku ended by laughing nervously.

The young woman smiled. "Good. Now I want you to kiss me."

"What?" Goku felt like the floor just gave way.

"I've been dreaming of this moment forever. I need this to happen." She said as she pressed herself against Goku.

"I...um...I've never kissed anyone before."

"You haven't?" She asked with starry eyes. "You were saving yourself for me and no one else. I have done the exact same thing."

Goku didn't know if this girl was crazy or if this was how all girls acted. The only women he was around all the time was his mother, the Queen and Bulma. So he really didn't have much to go off on.

"Will you kiss me?"

Goku's eyes slid to the black haired beauty's lips and he decided to give it a try. She really wanted it to happen and plus she smelled very nice. So whether it was curiosity or the fact that his hunger had went to his brain he didn't know. All he knew was that he leaned down and brushed her lips softly with his own. He was extremely surprised with how soft her lips felt and how nice it actually was. He would have kissed her longer but she broke the kiss and started to giggle.

"Thank you. Come I will take you to the Ox King." She ended by pulling on his hand.

But Kakarot didn't budge as he halted her. "Wait, what's your name?"

"Oh Vegeta how could you forget, It's Chichi. Princess Chichi."

Goku's face became pale as he realized that he had probably just done something that he definitely shouldn't have. _'Uh oh.'_

**Author's Note:** Next chapter Bulma escapes, Goku is caught, and Vegeta starts a mission. Please Review...


	7. Confused

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 7: Confused**

Goku took a step back from Chichi as dread washed over his face. He knew he was in serious trouble. "Um I think there has been a huge mistake."

Chichi only smiled at him. "What mistake could there be? You and I are betrothed and we are to be married. I've been waiting for you since my father told me about you." She said grasping his hands tighter.

Goku took a step back and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well about the you and me and your father thing-"

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry." Chichi said apologetically as realization dawned on her face.

Goku sighed with relief. "No I'm sorry-"

"You should completely be asking my father's permission before kissing me."

Goku would have fallen over with his legs twitching in the air if Chichi wouldn't have grabbed his hands again.

"Come on, we must go to him at once!" She said as she pulled him out of the stables to follow her.

"No! Chichi wait-" He said trying to halt her. For the life of him he couldn't' muster the strength to pull his hands out of her grasp. _'What is with this girl?'_

"We must go to him immediately." Chichi said determinedly.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Goku mumbled to himself.

**Inside the Castle**

The Ox King was more than surprised to see the younger version of his old friend. Vegeta had just updated him on whom he was and all that had happened so far. The Ox King was looking Vegeta up and down astounded at his presence and also the resemblance to the King of all Saiyans. "Yes if your hair was longer you would be like your father's twin."

"Trust me it will grow. But we have more important things to discuss than my hair." Vegeta said as he narrowed his eyes at the King.

The Ox King smiled. "Yes I am sure you would like to see Chichi. I will send for some attendants to fetch her and she will be here shortly."

"I did not come here for your daughter." Vegeta almost seethed. He didn't mean to sound harsh but the idea of being with someone other than Bulma was utterly annoying. He spent his whole life not having what he wanted and now that he knew who he was, things were going to change.

The Ox King was once again surprised. "If you did not come to marry my daughter then what did you come here for?"

"I came here to gather my troops. I will be leading them in a fight against Frieza."

The King took a step back and shook his head. "You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious. I will not rest until my people have been avenged."

The Ox King couldn't believe what he was hearing. "The northern tyrant is very dangerous. No one has been able to defeat him."

"That is because the job was destined to be mine." Vegeta said smirking with confidence.

"No Vegeta. You are going about this wrong. Live out your life; do not fret on the past-"

"I did not come here for a lecture! I came here to get what's mine!" Vegeta said yelling at the King.

Before the Ox King could retort they both turned to the door as they heard...

"How dare you speak to my father that way? Who do you think you are?" Chichi hollered with her hands placed on her hips. Goku was nervously looking behind her trying not to look at the big man in the center of the room that was no doubt the Ox King. _'Please don't kill me._' He thought over and over again.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the harpy at the door. "I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans and I may speak to whomever I want, however I want."

Chichi laughed out loud at his remark. "You are not Vegeta. He is." She said pointing a finger at the gulping Saiyan behind her.

The Ox King narrowed his eyes. "Who is that?"

Even Vegeta was curious. "Kakarot what is she going on about?"

Chichi turned to Goku. "Well go on, tell them."

Goku looked nervously from Chichi to her father and then to Vegeta. They were all staring at him and he had no idea what to say. "Uh Hi!" He responded.

The Ox King tilted his head to the side. "Are...are you Bardock's son?"

Goku thought about it for a moment. That was the name that his mother had mentioned to him. "Yea-yes sir... I mean Sire...Sir Sire."

"You look just like him." The Ox King responded.

Chichi looked back and forth between her father and Goku confused. Then she placed all her attention on Goku. "What is going on?"

Goku gulped as the beautiful woman glared at him. "I was trying to tell you. My name is Goku and-"

He couldn't finish his statement because Chichi delivered a powerful punch to his jaw that sent him to the ground. Goku just looked up at her in both fear and admiration as she towered over him.

"You lied to me and told me that you were Vegeta then took advantage of me!"

"What?" The Ox King yelled.

"How so?" Vegeta asked amused.

"He kissed me!" Chichi screamed.

Vegeta busted out laughing while the Ox King turned red in the face. "I do not like liars in my kingdom."

Goku got up and bowed to the King. "I didn't mean to- I mean I didn't lie-it was all a misunderstanding."

The Ox King took a step towards him but Vegeta took a step as well blocking him. "Calm down. I assure you that my comrade is the most naive person you will ever meet. This was no doubt confusion and stupidity on his part not a manipulative tactic to get to your daughter."

The Ox King looked to his daughter. "Chichi?"

Chichi crossed her arms and looked to the side. "Well...I never did ask him his name."

Goku almost excitedly pointed to Chichi. "See? I'm innocent! She threw herself on me!"

Chichi's mouth hung opened in shock of his words. "I did no such thing! I have never kissed a man in my life!"

"Neither have I! I mean kissed a woman! I mean I haven't kissed a man either but...I don't know what I mean but that was my first kiss too!" Goku yelled back confused, nervous and defensive.

Chichi's cheeks blushed with embarrassment and she then turned to Vegeta and bowed. "I am sorry for giving to him that which should have been yours."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't care what you give to him. I am breaking off the betrothal."

Chichi gasped and the Ox King hollered "What?"

"You heard what I said."

The Ox King became furious. "This arrangement was done by your parents. Are you telling me that you will not honor them?"

"I am telling you that I will do what I want."

Chichi didn't know what to feel. She had been raised to marry Prince Vegeta her whole life and now he didn't even want her. It was a rather large blow to her self-esteem.

The Ox King was far from pleased. "My daughter has been raised to marry a Saiyan royal and-"

"Then she should marry Kakarot."

"What?" Everyone else said at once.

Vegeta shrugged his shoulders. "He may not be a royal but his father was the head general and so will he be. And it's clear that the two of them are already attracted to one another." Then Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the Ox King. "And it's also clear that you want an alliance with the Saiyan Empire. Otherwise you wouldn't care about honoring an agreement with people that are already dead and whose son has nothing but a title and promised agreements."

The Ox King gulped as he was caught. "Most of the Saiyans that had survived came here for refuge. Over the years, they have populated and now make up half my kingdom. I cannot loose Saiyan favor or I will lose half my kingdom."

"And so you will have it."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Chichi asked.

Vegeta rolled his eyes at her. "You didn't get a say before, why is now any different?"

Chichi sneered at Vegeta. She didn't bother to analyze him before but she was doing so now and comparing him to the saiyan man she had kissed earlier. _'He is nowhere near as nice, tall, or handsome.'_

She looked back to Kakarot and smiled. "Never mind, you are actually doing me a favor. I'd much prefer him over you."

Vegeta ignored the insult Chichi tried to give him. "Then it is settled."

Goku who was listening to the whole thing was floored. "Wait what?"

"We are getting married Kakarot." Chichi said once again.

Goku blinked at Chichi and then looked at her father. "Sire?"

"Vegeta makes a good point. I will honor this arrangement."

Goku gulped then looked to his brother for help. "Ouji?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Kakarot, don't be an idiot."

"But-"

"It's for the empire don't be a child. I need my troops and the King needs his kingdom." Vegeta said with an air of finality.

Goku shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Everyone was staring at him again. _'Ok, this day is getting weirder by the second. My brother wants me to marry this girl, the girl wants me to marry her, but do I want to marry her?'_ Goku looked at Chichi's pleading eyes and down to her lips. He thought about the kiss they shared and how he would like to very much do that again. "Can my mom be at the wedding?"

"Yes she can." Chichi said smiling.

"Good. Now onto business." Vegeta said turning back at the King.

"It would take some time gathering them and getting them ready. Are you going to visit the Hermit?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Master Roshi the hermit. He is a master of fighting and weapon making. He is the one that single handedly forged the armor for the Saiyan King and his top men. If you intend to do battle with the Northern tyrant, it would be good to visit him and go into battle with Saiyan armor." The Ox King said as if it was the obvious thing to do. But what he was really trying to do was buy some more time. _'If anyone can talk Vegeta out of doing this, then Roshi can.'_

Vegeta had never heard of him before but if this man had something that belonged to him then he wanted it. "Show me where to find him."

"Follow me." The King said as he led Vegeta out of the room leaving Chichi alone with Goku. An awkward silence fell on the two young people. Chichi looked down and blushed. She felt awful from being rejected but she also didn't want to force anything on Kakarot that he didn't want to do. She really just wanted to put a brave face on for Vegeta since he so casually threw her away.

"Kakarot I-"

"Goku."

"What?" Chichi asked confused.

"My name is Goku."

"But that's not a Saiyan name at all." She said confused.

"I know, but that's the name I grew up with, and it's also what I like to be called. If we are going to be together forever, I would like to be called that." He said with his cheeks turning red.

Chichi smiled at him. She started to think that maybe things could work out. She didn't know him but she was already prepared to marry a stranger. She couldn't put her finger on it, but being with Goku felt right. "I like the name Goku. Now come on." She said grabbing his hand for the second time that day.

"Where are we going?"

"We have a wedding to plan silly."

As Goku was being dragged away he couldn't help but think, _'What have I gotten myself into?'..._

**Meanwhile...**

Bulma had talked Yamcha into going horseback riding outside the palace gates. The whole time he was going on and on about all the things he was going to do for her and Bulma smiled prettily at him pretending to pay attention when actually her mind was whirling with ideas to get away from him. She looked behind her and saw a few of Yamcha's guards strolling behind them. She smirked as a plan formed in her mind.

"Yamcha?"

"Yes my sweet?"

Bulma had to keep from rolling her eyes at the name. "I have come to realize that since we have known each other, we have never truly been alone."

Yamcha grinned excitedly. "You wish to be alone with me."

"Yes I do." She said smirking at him.

Yamcha looked her up and down surprised. She had never looked at him that way before and was excited to explore what that look meant further. He then turned around slightly to address his guards. "Go back to the Palace. The Princess and I wish to be alone."

One of the guards furrowed his brows. "Sire I would advise against it-"

"I did not ask for your opinion Krillian! Just do as I say!"

The short guard slightly bowed then signaled for the other guards to follow him. Once they were out of view Yamcha turned back to Bulma. "Now we are alone."

Bulma smiled at him once again and got down off her horse. Before Yamcha could ask what she was doing, she pulled a riding blanked off of the horse and laid it on the grass that was on the side of the trail they were riding on. She then sat on the blanket and patted the side of it telling Yamcha to come sit next to her. Yamcha didn't hesitate to do so and was there quickly.

"Now my Princess. What is it-" Yamcha's eyes became wide as his fiancé cut him off by pressing her warm plump lips to his. Even though they had been engaged for years, they had never had the opportunity to kiss. As she had stated before, they had never been alone before. He was also surprised when she touched the sides of his face and deepened the kiss. He was a bit confused and wanted to know where she had learned to kiss like that, but all thoughts became lost as she began to pull him down onto the blanket. Part of him knew that this was wrong, but the other part was saying, _'Well you'll be married to her shortly anyways.'_

Bulma heard Yamcha moan and knew that he was completely distracted. She kept one hand at the back of his neck and tried not to squirm when she felt his hands at her waist. With her free hand she reached out onto the grass, looking for the item she had spotted while she was still on her horse. She almost sighed with relief when she finally found the smooth rock. She hesitated and then with one final kiss swung it at Yamcha's head. He moaned and then passed out unconscious. Bulma hurriedly pushed Yamcha off of her as she silently apologized to him. She then got onto his horse and grabbed the reigns of the one she was on and rode away as fast as she could.

_'He's going to be mad when he wakes up..._'

**An hour later...**

"Sire! Sire!"

Yamcha blinked once then twice and sat up slowly as pain throbbed in the back of his head. He touched the spot that was the source of his thundering headache and narrowed his eyes in confusion as he saw blood.

"Sire are you alright?"

Yamcha groaned and then stood up. "I'm fine Krillian. Where is Bulma?"

Krillian picked up the rock that was next to him and saw that it was stained with a little bit of Yamcha's blood and said, "I think she ran away sire."

Yamcha looked at him and the rock and shook his head. "No! She would never. She loves me. Someone else attacked me."

Krillian  
had to keep from rolling his eyes. "Sire I think-"

"Vegeta...He is behind this. He threatened me earlier and he came back to steal Bulma away from me. Well if he thinks I'm not going to go after him then he has another thing coming."

Krillian wanted to shake Yamcha. It was obvious that Bulma was the one that attacked him. "I think if you look at the situation-"

"Find me some trackers! We are going to get the Princess back. And I am going to show that wannabe royal what happens when you mess with me." Yamcha snapped as he shoved passed Krillian.

Krillian looked up to the sky for some kind of help. "Could this get any worse?"

**Author's Note**: It's going to get worse. Who are the trackers going to be? What is going to happen to Bulma? The adventure continues. Please Review!


	8. Lost

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 8: Lost**

Yamcha paced back and forth trying to calm himself down when Krillian came into the courtyard with the trackers he wanted. Krillian had given him a hard time about them, because for one, they just so happened to be around and two, they were members of the Red Ribbon clan. The Red Ribbon clan was the best in the known world for having skilled fighters and trackers but they were practically hired thugs that couldn't be trusted. But Yamcha didn't care, he wanted Bulma found immediately.

He looked them up and down and didn't believe them to be dangerous by their looks. The trackers were a young boy and girl, possibly in the early 20's. They looked alike and had the same icy blue eyes. The girl had straight blonde hair and the boy had black hair. Their clothing was made up of bagging pants and fitted tops. It was starting to get colder so they both had some type of leather like coats trimmed with fir. They both had a bored expression on their faces as if their time was being wasted. But other than that they seemed like two normal people…even though it was odd seeing a woman wear pants.

Yamcha cleared his throat and said, "So you are the trackers? What are your names?"

"17." The Boy said.

"18." said the girl.

Yamcha blinked at them confused. "Those are numbers. You don't have actual names?"

Krillian rolled his eyes at his friend. He honestly didn't understand why he didn't know this already. "Sire, their leader Gero, is notorious for taking orphans and turning them into assassins and the like. He gives them numbers instead of names."

"Assassins? Assassin 17 and 18?"

17 looked rolled his eyes and replied, "You're not hiring us for assassin work; you are hiring us to find your princess are you not?"

Yamcha hesitated but then nodded. "Yes she must be found."

Krillian almost groaned. "Sire your men and I can do this ourselves."

"No." Yamcha said silencing him. "If she is with Vegeta, you cannot seize him. This must be done without politics. King Brief would probably be upset if I made a move against Vegeta, which is something I can't afford to do if I truly want Bulma."

Krillian looked annoyed. "You don't think Bulma would be mad that you hired members of the red ribbon clan to bring her back?"

"She doesn't have to know that."

"She won't." 18 added. "We'll take her before she even knows what's going on. She will only think that she has been kidnapped. Then you and your men can save her and she will be ever grateful."

"You still don't know if she ran away on her own accord." Krillian almost seethed with frustration.

17 rolled his eyes once again. "We are wasting time. She is getting further away. Look even if she did orchestrate this whole thing, it is her father who decides who she is to marry. Not her. We are merely returning lost property."

"Exactly." Yamcha nodded in agreement. "You're hired." He said tossing them a small pouch filled with gold. "Just make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"Of course." 17 said right before he and his comrade left out.

Yamcha then turned to Krillian as soon as he couldn't see the two assassins anymore and said, "Follow them."

Krillian sighed with relief. "Forgive me your highness but that's the smartest thing you said all day."

Yamcha frowned but ignored his comment. "I want Bulma found but I don't fully trust them. I just need them to do the dirty work. Just make sure she gets back here."

"Don't worry your highness; I'll have everything under control..."

**Meanwhile...**

The Ox King leaned over the table in his private war room and pointed to an area on the map. "Here; this is where you will find Roshi."

Vegeta looked at the map and memorized the coordinates then nodded. "Very good. I will be leaving shortly."

The Ox King was about to say something else when a servant came into the room. "Sire they have all gathered."

The Ox King smiled. "Good." Then he turned to Vegeta and said, "It's time."

"Time for what?" Vegeta asked curiously.

The Ox King placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded to the door. "To greet your people."

Vegeta blinked at that and felt a slight wave of nervousness wash over him. He nodded back then followed the servant out into the court yard. He was a bit surprised to see the courtyard filled with black haired men, women, and children. He assumed that they were all Saiyans. They were mostly around his age; he deduced that they must have been children that escaped from the war. This made sense, because Saiyans were very proud people so the adults would have fought until they died. There were only 2 or 3 people that looked to be over 30 and that was all.

Vegeta held his head up high and began to walk to the center of the courtyard. With every step he took, his people began to bow down onto one knee. It was a moment that he never thought would happen to him but at the same time he always knew it was meant to be.

In the midst of the people there was one old man who had a crooked leg and was leaning on a man-made staff. Tears filled his eyes and bowed his head as he opened his mouth to say, "Forgive me your highness but it is like looking into the past and seeing your father. Being away from my land and my people…I-I have forgotten what it felt like to truly feel like a Saiyan…and today you have revived me."

Vegeta looked at the man and touched his shoulder in encouragement. Then he did a slow turn as his eyes roamed over the crowd of people. "I know a lot of you have forgotten what it feels like to be a Saiyan, but as long as you have honor and the pride the accompanies the Saiyan blood that flows through your veins then you haven't lost yourselves. You have only been asleep…and I am here to wake you up."

Some of the men in the audience began to cheer. This encouraged Vegeta to speak further. "We have been united for a reason and a purpose. We have been given a chance to make our lost nation great once more!"

The men cheered louder and the some of the women wiped tears from their eyes as they watched their leader with hope.

"We will not be known as a lost race anymore. We are proud Saiyans and we will fight for our rightful place of honor. And we will take back what that northern tyrant has stolen from us. We are not weak, we are not hiding and we are not afraid. We are proud, we are strong and we are Saiyans!"

The people all cheered and screamed in favor of his speech. Then one by one they started chanting, "Vegeta! Vegeta! Vegeta!"

Vegeta held his head high and took in the moment. He closed his eyes and thought to himself, _'Yes this is what I was born to do.'_

After another moment of soaking in his new found glory he left the people and went back inside the castle and isn't surprised to see Kakarot waiting for him.

"That was some speech."

Vegeta smirked at him and said, "The first of many. I'll be leaving shortly to find Roshi."

"Alright I'll get the horses."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't have to come with me." Vegeta said as he started to walk past him.

Goku grabbed his shoulder, halting his steps and said, "Where you go, I go."

Vegeta was about to argue but he knew that it would be pointless. He sighed and gave him a nod as he walked off to gather his things for his journey.

"It looks like Vegeta wasted no time in exercising his authority."

Goku turned around to see Chichi walk up behind him. "Yea...Vegeta is going to find Master Roshi and I'm going to go with him."

Chichi furrowed her brows in annoyance. "But the two of you just got here."

"I'm sorry Chichi but I made a promise to look after my brother and I'm going to keep it."

Chichi sighed at that. Goku had told her the family history of everything that happened. She knew how much Vegeta meant to Goku but she wasn't so sure if the feeling was mutual.

"I understand, but I just found you and I don't want you to go."

Goku was about to open his mouth to say something but he was cut off by Chichi saying "Marry me."

"I will but-"

"No, right now."

Goku blinked in surprise at that. "What? Are you sure?"

Chichi wrapped her arms around Goku's neck and he gulped at the closeness as he became nervous once again from her touch. Chichi stared into his eyes and said, "I don't want to spend any more time waiting for my fiancé to show up."

She then leaned in and kissed him on his lips like she had done before but this time it was longer. Goku's eyes fluttered shut as he took in the feelings that washed over him by her soft caress. When she pulled away he felt his brain give orders to his and said, "Ok."

**Meanwhile...**

Bulma saw the river from the road and edged her horse on until she was the up to it. She quickly got off and bent down to scoop some water into her hands. She had been riding nonstop and was very tired. But she knew she had to keep going because there was no telling how close Yamcha and his men were. She let the soothing water cool her nerves as she drank from palms. Her adrenaline was through the roof at the moment. She felt nervous and scared as the fear of being caught surrounded her continuously. She looked around her for the millionth time hoping that no one saw her then looked back to the river. She watched as the water rushed downward heading off a cliff and wondered what it would feel like to be as free as the water to go where you wanted. Then she looked back to her horse and petted its head as the steed drank from the water as well.

**Not too far away...**

17 and 18 watched as the princess drank from the river. It didn't take long to find her at all, but then again it never took long for them to find anyone. 18 was starting to move from her crouched position behind some bushes and said, "Alright you distract her and I'll grab her."

"Actually sister I have other plans." 17 said right before he drew his bow and arrow and aimed it at Bulma. 18's eyes grew big as she reached for her brother. He let go of the arrow just as she hit him while screaming, "No!"

Then they watched as Bulma was struck by the arrow and fell into the river.

"What did you do that for?" 17 yelled at 18 as he ran towards the river. But by the time he got there she had already went over the edge of the cliff. "Have you lost your mind?" He yelled at his sister as he ran to the edge trying to see if he could see her.

18 ran up next to him and was tempted to throw him over. "My mind? We were paid to take her back to Yamcha!"

"Actually we were paid to take her to Frieza." 17 seethed as he gave up scanning the waters. They were going to have to get down to the bottom of the cliff to try and track her once again, if she wasn't dead already. There were quite a few rocks at the bottom plus the Princess was wearing a layered kimono. The weight of her clothing could be a huge factor in her survival.

18 shoved her brother and asked, "What are you talking about? Since when are we working for Frieza?"

"Frieza went to Gero and told him that he wanted to find the lost prince. I found him days ago at Brief Kingdom. When I did, Vegeta and Bulma were engaged with each other intimately. I reported that to Frieza and now he wants the girl."

"Why did you bring me along?" 18 seethed.

"Because other than me, you're the best and I knew we would get this done faster."

18 crossed her arms and glared at her brother. "You promised me no more dangerous jobs. I told you that I wanted out and I meant it."

"And I was hoping that it was just a phase. We have a good thing going. No one can touch us. We have tons of money-"

"That we can't even spend because we're too caught up in this. I want a life. I want to wear fine dresses and-"

18 was cut off as 17 shot his arrow behind her into the darkness of the woods. 18 just glared at him more. "What are you doing now?"

"Someone is out there." He said as he ran toward the area of where he shot the arrow.

18 took off after her brother. They found Krillian leaning against a tree with an arrow sticking out of his side. He tried to defend himself but 17 was quick and knocked him out with the butt of his bow. Then he got out another arrow. But 18 stopped him before he could place it in the bow.

"Are you crazy? That is Yamcha's guard?"

"He might have heard us talking about Frieza. He has to die."

18 stood in front of Krillian and raised her arms in protection. "No! No more assassin missions!"

"This isn't an assassin mission!" 17 yelled.

"I'm not going to let you kill him. I said no more blood shed and I mean it brother."

"Fine he's your problem now. I'm going to go get the princess." 17 said as he walked away.

**Meanwhile...**

She couldn't breathe. She remembered clawing at the water trying to break for air but her dress kept weighing her down. She felt like she was being knocked around and thrown about underneath the water. She moved her arms around as much as she could but there was an awful pain in her shoulder that was preventing her from using her full strength. She still tried her hardest to get to the surface but at one point she didn't know which way was up, all she knew was that she had to survive, she had to see Vegeta again. Somehow in the midst of her willing to survive, she was being pulled, and she felt a refreshing coldness consume her as she was no longer surrounded by a wet death.

She blinked once or twice and saw a blurry man stand over her and she managed a "thank you" before she passed out.

**Author's Note**: What is going to happen to Bulma? Is Vegeta going to find her before 17? And who is the bald man? The adventure continues. Please Review!


	9. Savages

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.**

**Chapter 9: Savages**

This wasn't good.

That was the first thing that came to his mind when he saved the young woman from the river. Even though he was a trained warrior, his people were ones of peace. They did not like to get involved with the dwellers from outside their lands. And judging by the jewelry the young woman wore on her ears and the amount of clothing she wore, she was not the average outsider.

"Piccolo?"

The tall man turned around to see his brother Nail approach. He looked at the surprised look on his brother's face and said, "We must take her to Guru."

Nail who looked just like his brother frowned. "She'll bring trouble if we take her back. I don't like this."

Piccolo scoffed at him. "And what am I to do? Leave her to die?"

It was Nail's turn to scoff. "It's not like you haven't done it before."

Piccolo had the sudden urge to drop the girl and fight his brother. For a time he abandoned his people and followed his own ambitions. He wanted to see what was beyond his land. But being a Namekian didn't exactly make it easy to fit in. They were people of the land and in tune with nature. From the time you are a child you are to keep yourself shaven and given green tribal tattoos all over your body to make yourself one with nature. So it was no wonder that he was not accepted by the outsiders. Everyone assumed that he was bad news and that's exactly what he attracted. He did some things that he would regret for the rest of his life. But he didn't need anyone shoving it in his face.

"What I did has nothing to do with this." He seethed.

Nail crossed his arms and sneered at him. "Why not take her to father?"

Piccolo cradled the young girl closer to his chest and started to walk away. "Kami will find out soon enough."

Nail jogged a little to catch up with his brother. "Still can't call him father huh?"

Piccolo winced at that. "There's too much bad blood between us. Things will never be the same."

**Meanwhile...**

Vegeta stood next to Kakarot as they both watched Chichi walk down the aisle in an all-white kimono dress. She must have been planning her wedding for years because they sure did throw everything together quickly. Flowers and candles littered the throne room. The place was filled with people who were all just about crying over their beloved princess. Vegeta who was standing next to Kakarot looked at him and frowned as he watched the soon to be married man fidget nervously like a fool.

"Stop it." He whispered harshly. "You look stupid."

"Huh? Oh right." Goku said as he commanded his body to stop moving so much. Goku was nervous...actually he was beyond nervous. He was still trying to replay the day's events over and over to understand how ended up at an altar. He thinks he was tricked somehow but on the other hand he knew he what he was doing. And then the thought of what was going to happen that night scared him almost to death. He thought about his earlier conversation with Vegeta and that didn't help him one bit...

**Earlier...**

Vegeta crossed his arms and sighed in annoyance. "Fine you can stay and get married if you want but I am going to Roshi's now."

"Please stay." Goku whined. "No one here knows me but you."

Vegeta finally gave in and growled out, "Fine. But I'm leaving right after the ceremony. I am not waiting around for you to be done with your husband duties."

Goku's face turned red with embarrassment. He wasn't totally oblivious to the concept of sex. He did overhear some things from the other palace guards, but he still had no experience in the matter. Chichi was the first woman he had been intimate with and all they had done was a few kisses...That she initiated!

"Um...about that." Goku scratched the back of his head and watched as Vegeta raised an eyebrow at him. "What should I do tonight?"

Vegeta's face turned just as red as Goku's and he yelled defensively at him, "How am I supposed to know?"

"I mean...well you and Bulma-"

"We never did anything like that!"

Goku blinked at him confused. "But you guys slept together and were always kissing and stuff-"

"What kind of guard do you think I am? We did no such thing. Bulma and I are still pure!"

"Oh...But she has been with Yamcha these past couple days-"

"She would never! She is mine and I will claim her when the time is right." Vegeta growled out as his embarrassment turned to anger.

Goku crossed his arms as he began to ponder. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Just do what comes natural." Vegeta said as he turned and left away from him and the uncomfortable conversation.

**Present...**

As Chichi got closer all Kakarot could think was, _'Be natural, be natural..._' Then everyone looked at him oddly as his stomach gave out the loudest growl anyone had ever heard a stomach growl. Goku just laughed and placed his hand behind his head as he said, "Sorry I get hungry when I'm nervous."

Vegeta shook his head at his adopted brother while everyone else in the room laughed. The ceremony was soon over and Vegeta got out of there as soon as he could. He didn't want to even admit it to himself but he couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of Kakarot being married before he could. The whole thing only made him want to be with Bulma even more. But first things first, he had to take down the Northern Tyrant.

He had to have been riding nonstop for hours as tried to get to Roshi's as fast as he could. It was now very dark and he didn't slow his stride until he spotted a light up ahead. He placed his right arm closer to his sword as he continued to get closer. Now he could definitely tell that there was a camp fire up ahead but he didn't know if the people around it would be friendly or not. But the only thing was that he couldn't see anyone near it. All he saw was the fire…

"Stop right there!"

Vegeta held the reigns of his horse as he listened to the demand coming from behind him. He started to turn his head but then the same voice yelled out,

"I said don't move or my arrow is going straight into your head. Get his sword!"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes as a tall man with wild hair emerged from his side and took his blade.

"Get off the horse and raise your hands!"

Vegeta was fuming. He couldn't wait to see who this idiot was so that he could kill him. He got off the horse and turned around slowly to see an even taller man but he was older and bald and had a goatee. "Who are you?" Vegeta demanded.

The bald man blinked at him multiple times then lowered his weapon. "God of the known world it is you!" He whispered in disbelief.

The other man who had a blade pointed at Vegeta fidgeted a little. "Who is he?"

Vegeta realized that the bald one figured out he was and decided to confirm what he was thinking. "I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans!" He said proudly.

The bald man dropped to his knees and the other one only hesitated for a second and then did the same.

"Forgive me Sire, but I did not recognize you until I saw your face. You are truly your father's son. The resemblance is astounding. I am Nappa. I was a proud warrior in the Saiyan army and I live to serve you."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at him. The man called Nappa was possibly old enough to be his father, which meant that he was indeed old enough to be around when the Saiyan Empire fell.

"You say you are a proud warrior, but tell me, did you run from the last great battle while your people died with honor?"

Nappa gritted his teeth at that. "No Sire, I and a few others were away on a mission while the battle ensued. By the time we had heard of what happened it was too late." He looked up and starred at Vegeta. "I have been searching for you my whole life."

Vegeta took in his words then turned to other man. "And what is your story?"

"My name is Raditz sire. I was a child when the battle took place. My father Bardock was-"

"Bardock?" Vegeta asked. That name sounded familiar.

"Yes sire. He was the head general and-

"Colleen is your mother." It was a statement. Vegeta now knew where he heard the name. This was Kakarot's real brother and Colleen's long lost son.

Raditz was a bit shocked that the lost prince knew of his mother. He was only a boy when the empire fell. He had thought his mother had died. He had tried to find her but he had given up. This was the first time that hope had been sparked in him since he was a child. He stood up quickly filled with concern and asked, "Do you know of her? She was pregnant-"

"With your younger brother; Kakarot." Vegeta bit out. He didn't really know why he was angry. Perhaps it was because Raditz being there shoved the lie he lived back into his face. He really didn't know and didn't care to dwell on it.

"How do you know-?"

"Because I was with her. In Brief Kingdom." Vegeta snapped.

Nappa chimed in and said, "Yes we had heard that there was a connection with you and the Princess. We were heading to Prince Yamcha's to find her now."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you mean by a connection with me and the Princess?"

Nappa fidgeted like a school boy that was about to be scolded by the headmaster. He hadn't felt that way since the King had lived. He swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "We intercepted an assassin from the Red Ribbon Clan. He told us that the Northern Tyrant was having her kidnapped to get to you. So we figured if we found her then she would lead us to you."

Vegeta shook his head in disbelief then growled. "Bulma's in danger." He then turned and went to get back onto his horse.

"Sire where are you going?" Nappa asked worried and curious at the same time.

"I have to find her. Give me my sword." He demanded as he reached out his hand.

Raditz did so and then Nappa said, "Sire we have an opportunity to unite our people. Why is she so important?"

Vegeta glared at the two men and placed his sword back in its sheath. "Because she is your future Queen. Now you can join me or stay here. Do what you like, I really don't care, but I'm leaving."

And with that Vegeta turned around to find his woman. Nappa hit Raditz on the shoulder and ran to where their horses were tied up. "Come on let's go."

Raditz hurriedly followed him. "You don't have to tell me twice. I still have some questions for our prince."

**Morning…**

Bulma opened her eyes and saw several bald men covered in green tattoos painted all over their heads and chest leaning over her. She screamed and backed away from them. She then looked down and saw that she was no longer in her kimono...actually she was no longer in anything. She was completely naked and only had fur blankets on top of her to cover herself. She screamed once more and backed up against the wall of a stone hut. "Get away from me! What have you done to me?"

"Calm down!" One man said. "We had the women change you out of your clothing and lay you under these blankets. We have done you no harm."

Bulma looked at all of them cautiously and then looked at her body once more. She had a bandage around her arm and her head was pounding. She remembered falling into the river and going over the cliff. Then she recalled someone carrying her but the whole thing was still kind of fuzzy. It took her a moment to breathe normally to calm down. "You guys...rescued me?"

"Yes. I did actually." One man said as he crossed his arms and looked at her offended.

"Thank you." She said and he nodded to her in reply. "Where am I?"

"You are in Namek." Another said. "My name is Kami and these are my son's Nail and Piccolo. Piccolo is the one that saved you."

Bulma looked at him confused. "Namek?"

"Yes that is what we call our land. We are Namekians. We try to keep to ourselves but every once in a while an outsider finds their way here. We usually try to keep them away but you were a different case. What is your name?"

"Bulma. My name is Bulma." Then she blushed with slight embarrassment. "Um...would it be possible to get some type of clothing?"

The men all blushed and Kami smiled and said, "Of course." The three of them left out rather quickly then a moment later a woman came in and laid down some clothing. Bulma was surprised when she saw her. She too was bald and had green tattoos. And to make her even odder, she wore pants like the men. So Bulma wasn't that surprised to see that she had given her pants as well.

"What would mother say about this?"

She held up the odd dark colored pants and shook her head. The top was made of similar material and they had also given her a small fur over coat. She didn't understand how Piccolo could walk around without a shirt on. It was cold outside. She got dressed quickly and stopped to examine herself. The pants felt odd and the shirt was quite snug. She blinked in surprise as it made her breasts seem even larger. The pants as well showed her rounded hips and bottom and even though she was wearing what would be deemed as manly attire in her own kingdom, she had never felt more...womanly. But then again it would make some sense seeing that she wore so many layers all the time.

She left out the hut and saw all the men in the village facing a different direction. One of them turned to her and said, "Get back inside."

Bulma looked worried. "What's going-"

"Ah there she is."

Bulma looked and saw what the men in the village were looking at. It was a young man with long dark hair and icy blue eyes staring back at her as if she belonged to him.

"Just give me the Princess and you all can go about your merry way. I know that you Namekians don't like to get involved with outsider business so give me the girl and you won't be involved."

The men looked to each other and Kami turned to Piccolo. "Guru said the girl is your responsibility. We don't know her-"

"We don't know him either." Piccolo said without taking his eyes off the new stranger.

"Tick-tock." 17 said. "I don't have all day."

Piccolo turned to Bulma, "Do you know him?"

"No." Bulma shook her head.

"Yamcha sent me to come get you." He replied with a smile that no one trusted.

Bulma cleared her throat and lifted her head high. "Well I am sorry to inform you that your service is no longer needed. I have no desire to go back there."

17 dropped his smile. "I didn't ask you for you to come with me. I said I was sent to get you. And that is what I am going to do."

Nail didn't like outsiders in his village and he just wanted the girl and the boy to go. "Just let him have her and be done with this whole thing."

"No." Piccolo said. "Bulma was shot with an arrow. And I have no doubt that he was the one that did it."

Nail looked at the boy and saw the bow that he carried. "Brother a lot of people carry-"

"Leave." Piccolo seethed to the stranger.

17 shook his head. "I said I'm not leaving without her."

"Fine, Then let's fight for her. If you win you can take her, if not she stays here."

17 chuckled. "Alright, but keep in mind that I tried to do this the peaceful way."

Piccolo cracked his neck and smirked at the young man. "So did I."

**Author's note:** Ok so I know some wanted Vegeta to fight 17 but one of my favorite fights on DBZ was when Piccolo fought 17. I couldn't take that away. And I gave the Namekians green tats because I'm not doing any aliens in my story so having green skin would be weird. Ok so what's going to happen next? How will Goku react to meeting his actual brother? What other characters will I bring in? What about Roshi? Review please!


	10. Savages Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**Chapter 10: Savages Part 2**

17 smirked as he sized up his opponent. Sure the guy was bigger than him but there was no way that this green freak was anywhere near his level of fighting skill. After all, what could someone know while being stuck in a village his whole life? Not to mention that he was the top assassin from the Red Ribbon Clan. His sister was a close second. She could be on his level, but she hesitated too much when she had to kill. Whenever he would yell at her she would always say something foolish like,

"Stealing and kidnapping is different because people can always get those things back."

He sighed as he thought of his sister's moral mind. It was their only flaw. Their team broken up and it was all her fault. She should be there with him right now. She panicked over absolutely nothing. He wasn't going to kill the Princess. Only wound her so that she wouldn't be able to get away from them or try to run. Double fail. And it was all 18's fault.

All the other Namekians stood back to give Piccolo some room as he stretched a little to prepare for battle. He saw how cocky the stranger was and knew that he could take him. He could tell that the stranger underestimated him like everyone else did. Everywhere he went people always assumed he was a crazy freak that was probably strong but didn't have any fighting techniques. He couldn't even count how many times people would pick fights with him because they wanted to seem like big shot that took down some green giant. Well they were all wrong...most were dead wrong.

"Whenever you are ready. I do have a schedule that I would like to keep." 17 Said as he yawned in boredom.

Piccolo cracked his neck and stared him down for a moment before he charged him and started to attack. 17 instantly became surprised as he found out that the Namekian was actually keeping up with him. He would throw a punch and Piccolo would block and retaliate.

Piccolo used the strangers shocked moment to his advantage and kneed him in his gut and before 17 could even register the pain Piccolo dropped his knee and elbowed him in the back sending him crashing to the ground with a powerful thud. Piccolo was about to hit him again but 17 rolled away and turned to kick Piccolo in the chin. He then elbowed him in his jaw. Piccolo stumbled backward but was able to block 17's next attack. The two of them started to trade blows and seemed evenly matched. That is until Piccolo decided to take things up a notch and head butted 17. 17 stumbled backwards and Piccolo decided to make him go back further and kicked him hard in the gut sending him almost flying in the air. The people that were in his way stepped away from him and allowed him to crash into a nearby tree. 17's wind was completely knocked out of him and Piccolo didn't waste any time to walk over and grab him by the throat. 17 grabbed his wrist trying to pry it off from around his neck as Piccolo began to squeeze harder.

17 couldn't believe it. There was no way that this man should be this skilled and deadly. Who was this guy?

Piccolo grinned, causing 17's eyes to become red and panicked as he thought he was about to die.

Kame had seen enough. His people were one of his peace and his son was not displaying any form of mercy. "Piccolo!" he yelled.

Piccolo only squeezed even harder and began lifting a now frightened 17 higher against the tree.

"Piccolo you must stop!"

Piccolo growled and squeezed more determined to finish the job. He saw 17 eyes roll to the back of his head and reveled in the moment of his victory.

"Piccolo I said that is enough!" Kame said this time as he placed a hand on son's shoulder. Piccolo glanced at his father then dropped 17 to the ground and steeped away.

17 immediately began to rub his neck as he began to cough violently. Piccolo glared at him then walked away. Kame motioned to a couple Namekians and they grabbed 17 and carried him away to their holding cell. Piccolo could tell that there were some that were proud of his actions but most were not pleased. He turned his back on them knowing that they were judging him. He didn't care that much though. Most of them lived in a cage and had no idea what dangers were out there in the world. They believed mercy should be something for everyone. Piccolo disagreed.

Bulma stepped forward after the Namekians blocking her from the fight felt it was now safe for her to be seen once more. She was annoyed that she couldn't see most of it, but at least the threat was taken care of. She was glad that Piccolo won but she was still a bit frightened about being attacked and was worried about more people coming after her. "What are you guys going to do with him?"

"We will keep guard over him and ask him questions. We need to know if others are coming." Kame said.

Bulma felt a shiver of fear run up her spine. She wrapped her arms around her midsection to get some comfort but what she really wanted was the arms of her loved one to hold her. She knew that she would not feel safe until she did.

**Meanwhile...**

Krillian blinked away the blurriness in his eyes but then shut them again as he felt the sudden harsh pain that consumed his head and instantly wished he was still asleep especially since the searing hot pain from his side joined in on the fun. He tried to sit up but felt hands push him back.

"Don't move. You're hurt and I'm still dressing your wounds."

He opened his eyes once more and was surprised to see the female tracker above him. His fingers instantly reached for his sword and grasped nothing.

18 smirked at his movement. "I moved it. I didn't want you to harm me while I was helping you."

"And why would you help me? Don't you want to finish me off or were you saving that job for your partner?" He said trying to sound as angry as possible. It wasn't easy seeing as he was a bit afraid since he was completely at her mercy.

18 saw the fear on his face and was a bit amused then she recalled what he said and the amusement left her. "He is not my partner anymore. He had other plans for the princess."

"What and you didn't?"

"No. I had every intention of taking her back to Yamcha. My brother disagreed." She said sadly. She had known that she and her brother had different ideas about how they should spend the rest of their lives but she had no idea that they would part ways so early on.

Krillian shifted once more and winced at the pain on his side.

"I told you not to move." 18 said.

Krillian glared at her. "Why was I attacked?" Krillian could see the hesitation on her face. "Look, I can see that you and your brother are going separate ways but there is a young woman's life in danger. All I want to do is keep her safe."

18 didn't want to betray her brother, but she knew that he needed to be stopped. They had gone too far...he had gone too far. Dealing with the Northern tyrant was always dirty work and her brother didn't seem fazed by it at all. She had to stop him before it was too late. She looked at Krillian and said, "He is going to take Bulma to the Northern tyrant."

Krillian's eyes grew large with confusion and mostly fear. "You are working for him? I heard he drinks the blood of babes!"

"It doesn't matter what he does, what matters is that my brother must be stopped." She didn't trust the tyrant. It worried her to her very core how easily her brother was willing to kill Krillian and shoot Bulma. It made her wonder if he had taken any jobs behind her back from his lack of hesitation. Killing wasn't their thing...at least is shouldn't have been. And kidnapping the daughter of Brief Kingdom did nothing but place an outlaw's fee on both their heads. So why the risk?

The only thing that made sense was that her brother's deal with the tyrant was even deeper than he had explained to her. And if he was keeping all these things from her, then that meant that he was already in too deep. So if he had to spend the rest of his life in a prison instead of having his life taken away from him then so be it. At least she would be able to see him again.

Krillian didn't trust this woman. Beautiful women could never really be trusted, and this one was very pretty. "Alright then let's go find him." He said sitting up once more.

18 rolled her eyes and pushed him back. "You are in no condition to move at the moment. Just rest while I build a fire."

18 stood up and Krillian watched her carefully. "I still don't understand why you are taking care of me. It would be so easy for you to just finish me off and go about your way."

18 paused at his words and hung her head low. "Let's just say, I don't want any part of my old life and this is the first step to me starting over." She said as she walked out of sight.

By the time she returned Krillian had fallen asleep. She sighed and sat down next to him as she built a small fire to keep them both warm from the chilly air that kissed their skin. She wasn't sure of what to do next. All she knew was that she didn't want to be an outlaw so first thing first was to keep Yamcha's man alive. Then she would have to get help. If her brother was contracted to get Bulma then that would mean others would come. And if anything terrible happened it would be blamed on her and her brother. This needed to stop.

**Not Too Far Away...**

Vegeta rode like the wind. His new comrades were both impressed and surprised at how well he maneuvered his horse through the woods as he urged it on forward as if he knew were every turn and fallen branch was in the woods.

Raditz turned his head to glance at Nappa as they did their best to try and keep up with their new and at the same time old Prince. Raditz was a bit annoyed because he had so many questions burning inside of him. Questions he has had for years and questions that Vegeta would know the answers to. Unfortunately those questions would have to wait seeing as his Prince was now on a mission and no one could slow him down.

Vegeta pushed his horse as hard as he could. He kept his eyes as far down the road as he could see so that he would know when to slow down, speed up, or make the horse jump when necessary. At the same time he knew that he had to keep his eyes opened for clues as he got closer and closer to Yamcha's domain.

He grit his teeth in anger at that. He didn't trust Yamcha or his men to keep Bulma safe. He thought leaving her behind would keep his enemies away from her. But he was wrong. She was right. She should have stayed with him. Yamcha being the idiot that he is would more than likely invite the assassins into his kingdom.

Vegeta growled out loud. _'If anything happens to her...'_ He couldn't even complete the thought. He had grown up with the sole job to protect her. And if he failed...if something happened to her...he didn't want to think about the possibilities. All he would know is that he would live a life of regret of not giving into her kisses and ignoring her glances. She was the only thing he wanted in his past life and he intended on keeping her.

Vegeta was brought out of his thoughts as a light caught his eye in the distance. He held his horse and raised a hand for his comrades to stop behind him. He didn't know who was up ahead, but he was going to find out.

...

18 rose up quickly. She was a very sensitive sleeper and she knew that the distant sound of horses that abruptly stopped was not a part of the dream that she had fallen into. She glanced at Krillian and saw that he was still knocked out. Her first reaction was to hide so that she could see who could be coming but her instincts were telling her that it was too late and that there was already someone out there in the darkness of the night watching her.

Fear was not an option.

When you are the deadliest woman in the world you don't cower in fear in the face of your enemies you stand up to it and force it on others. So she stood her ground, arms crossed and with a bored expression plastered on her face she said,

"You can come out now. You don't have to be afraid."

She smirked as a man emerged from the darkness with a scowl on his face as he drew his sword pointed it right at her.

_'Men and their egos._' She found humor in the fact that the trick never failed. One thing a man can't stand is a woman calling them some type of form of a coward.

"I am not afraid, but you should be."

"Oh?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

Vegeta didn't like her arrogance. "Why do you have Yamcha's guard?"

18 looked at her nails as if they were more important than her present enemy. For all she knew he could be another assassin sent from Frieza. There's no telling what kind of vermin the Northern tyrant was willing to employ to get what he wanted. "Who are you?" She asked ignoring his question.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. He had watched her only for a moment and knew immediately that she was not the average woman. For one she wore pants like a man, and her calmness in this situation told him that she had been in this type of position before. Which meant she was some type of threat. Not to him, but some form indeed.

The only thing that didn't fit into the puzzle was the guard. Why was he still alive? He had been wounded not tortured. He even seemed peaceful as he slept. So either she had been innocently helping out one of Yamcha's guards or the  
both of them had been working together.

"Are the two of you working together?" Vegeta asked as he stepped closer, eyeing her up and down to see if she had any tricks up her sleeve.

18 rolled her eyes. "Not even close. Are you an assassin?"

Vegeta blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting that question. He thought she was the assassin. Why would she be expecting more unless...unless they failed and didn't report back to their master in time so he sent out more. If that was true then that would mean that Bulma is in even more danger than before. This game of theirs was over. He had to find Bulma now. He quickly raised his blade to her throat daring her with her eyes to make a move against him.

"I am Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. I am looking for Princess Bulma and I know that you know something. So it would be in your best interest to tell me what you know."

18 paused. She wasn't expecting the Prince. Even if she could kill him that would be a mistake. Frieza wanted him and he would hunt her down for the rest of her life if she interrupted his plans. But she wasn't in the mood to die by the Prince's hands either. "I can help you find her, but you have to-"

"I don't have to do anything. You are not in a position to negotiate." He said smirking. Just then two other men that were way bigger than the prince emerged from the darkness. She had a feeling she was still being watched. But she still wasn't afraid.

"Look, I can find your princess before the sun comes up. I'm the best tracker on the whole planet. But you have to let me go and spare my brother once this is all over with."

"And who is your brother?"

"It doesn't matter. Do we have a deal or not?"

Vegeta did want to find Bulma and this woman seemed like she knew exactly where she would be. He glanced back down at Krillian then looked back to her. "And the guard?"

"I saved him. I was paid by Yamcha to find Bulma. We were intercepted by an Assassin from my own clan. Krillian got hurt."

There were still many questions that Vegeta had and parts of her story were missing a lot of information, but if there was already an assassin after Bulma then he didn't have enough time to find out everything. "Fine. Let's go."

**Author's Note:**

So sorry it took so long to update. Life...what can I say. Thanks for all the concerned messages I received. But everything is fine I just have 2 careers and  
a full time job. I'm already working on the next chapter and I'll have it up in a few days. I'm also working on the One shot to Cosmic Love, but I don't know if I should do a really long chapter or a few. The more I write the more ideas I get. So with this story, if you haven't figured it out already, it involves a lot of characters from DBZ. But don't worry, Bulma and Vegeta are and will always be the main couple in anything I write. Next chapter, Bulma and Vegeta reunite.


	11. Found You

**Disclaimer:** I do not own DBZ

**Chapter 11: Found You**

Krillian groaned as he began to open his eyes. The pain was still throbbing but he could not ignore the voices that entered into his dreams. "Vegeta?" He whispered amazed.

Vegeta tore his attention away from the assassin and looked at the body guard. "It's Prince Vegeta to you."

It was then that Krillian observed the other two men that had their swords drawn. "What's going on? Who are these two?"

"They are my comrades. What happened to you?"

Krillian looked to 18 and saw her tense up. He knew that he could very well sign her death warrant at this very moment if he wanted. He then looked back to Vegeta. He didn't trust 18, but he really didn't trust Vegeta either. All he knew was that he had to find the princess. He struggled to get up and leaned on the tree he was resting on for support. "I was attacked by an assassin and 18 was helping me. But we don't have time to go into all the details...We have to find the princess."

Vegeta could tell that Krillian was protecting 18. He didn't know why. For all he knew Krillian could have been helping them kidnap Bulma. But he was right. They didn't have time. But there will be time later. He was sure of that. "Nappa, put him on a horse. We don't need him slowing us down. Now, lead the way." He said dragging his eyes to 18 once more.

18 held her head high as she led them through the thick woods. Vegeta never once let his untrusting eyes stray away from her. His fingers were never too far from the handle of his sword as he tracked behind her all the while paying close attention to his surroundings in case she was leading them into an ambush. He heard water up ahead and saw her begin to slow her footsteps. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

The river came into view. It was constantly moving due to the fact that there was a waterfall above it pushing out more water into it. There was small bridge that was big enough to get carts and horses across a little further down. 18's eyes followed the bridge to the ground on the other side of it. She walked across the bridge and bent down and observed the ground. She smirked and stood up and turned around.

"This way!" She called out.

"Wait!" Vegeta said.

18 stopped and looked over her shoulder as Vegeta walked across the bridge toward her as the others followed behind him.

"How do you know you are going in the right direction? How do you know that you are following the princess?"

18 shifted her feet and then turned around fully to face the men. She pointed to the ground not too far from her. "The Princess was pulled from the river right here."

"How do you know that she fell into the water in the first place?" Raditz asked warily. Everyone was thinking the same thing. It was very suspicious when she walked right to the river as if she knew that's where she was without having to look for clues.

18 realized that she probably should have pretended to not know the Princess's last whereabouts but it was too late for that now. She stuck out her chin and told them the truth. "Because I saw her fall into the river just before the waterfall."

"What?" Vegeta growled.

"And you didn't try to save her?" Krillian yelled.

18 crossed her arms and glared back at the men that looked like they were ready to bury her where she stood and leave her body to rot.

"Look it doesn't matter what I didn't do before. All that matters now is that we find her. Right your highness? I would hate to go on in this quest only to find that you are not going to fulfill your promise to me?" 18 was a little worried but she would die before she would show any man that she was afraid.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her then nodded toward the woods before them. "Go on."

18 turned without another moment of hesitation and continued to follow the tracks that she believed belonged to her brother. _'17 I hope you haven't done anything stupid._'

Raditz didn't trust this woman at all. Neither did Nappa. They both looked at each other and Nappa cleared his throat. "Sire-"

"Let's go." Vegeta said effectively cutting him off before he could get his thoughts out. He knew what they were thinking because he was thinking it too. But promise or no promise, if Bulma was hurt, this woman was going to die.

**Meanwhile…**

17 was in his holding cell that consisted of a giant whole in the ground with a wooden gate on top. It was too deep to reach the gate and the walls were muddy so he could not climb out. He was annoyed that he was stuck in such a primitive cage. But he had no worries. He knew his sister and she would never abandon him. Soon she would get him out of there and then he can have his revenge on that green freak.

"Hello."

17 looked and smirked as he saw the Princess peering down over head. He could tell that there must have been quite a few guards around because he heard numerous sounds of 'be careful' and 'not too close'.

He wasn't surprised. Regardless of him losing the fight, he knew that they knew that he was a fearsome warrior and one that you should definitely be worried about.

"Ah Princess. It is lovely to see you again."

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Why did you attack me and tried to take me away? Yamcha wants me back but he would never go to such lengths?"

17 didn't care to tell the plan. He was going to fulfill it no matter what so her knowing didn't bother him. "The northern tyrant wants your forbidden prince and he sent me to get you to lure him in."

"Frieza wants me so that he can get to Vegeta?"

"Yes. So you can be comfortable for a while if you like but we will be leaving shortly."

"She's not going anywhere with you!" Nail had said. He couldn't stand this outsider's cocky tone. He had mixed feelings about his brother's fight but now he wished that his father wouldn't have stopped him from finishing the job.

17 smirked as another green freak came into view. "Oh but she is." 17 lazily placed his hands behind his head as if he was somewhere comfortable and not a cell made of dirt.

"Make sure you pack your belongings Princess. And I would take some warm clothing for the journey. It's pretty cold up North."

Bulma ignored his warning. "What does he want with Vegeta?"

17 shrugged his shoulders. "Kill him I suppose or embarrass him. It doesn't matter to me."

Bulma sneered at 17 and walked away from him. Nail followed behind her and said, "Don't worry Princess we will not let him get to you."

"Well he seems pretty confident." She said crossing her arms. "If he's that cocky then he knows something that we don't."

It was then that Kame approached. "We will just have to be careful of who comes into our territory from now on."

Nail peered behind his father and growled as he pushed Bulma behind him. "You spoke too soon!" Nail yelled out as he got into a fighting stance. Everyone in the village immediately began to tense up again. Quite a few of other tall Namekians got in front of Bulma pushing her back even more.

"Hey what's going on?"

"Strangers!"

Someone yelled out. Bulma gasped and grabbed one of the Namekians in slight fear. She didn't want to admit it to herself but 17's words had unnerved her. A million things began to race through her mind of someone coming to attack her and taker her away and harm the people there.

But it all came to a crashing halt as she heard,

"Bulma?!"

Bulma's heart pounded in her ears at that voice. "Vegeta?" She whispered. She let go of the Namekian and tried to push through but the held her back. "No wait, you don't understand..."

"Stay back Princess." One said.

"No I know him!"

"Please stay back until Kame says it's safe."

Bulma struggled against them once more and then gave up as she yelled out, "Vegeta! I'm here! I'm safe!"

Vegeta was a bit relieved at hearing her loud and clear. But he was annoyed that these savages were keeping her from him. "I am Vegeta Prince of all Saiyans and I demand that you release Princess Bulma to me at once."

Kame stepped forward. "I am Kame, leader of the Namekian people. We already had someone try to harm the Princess. We do not want this to happen again."

18 blinked at that. _'I knew 17 has already been here. But what happened to him?'_

"She will be safe with me." Vegeta said. He could feel himself starting to lose patience with this old man.

At that moment Piccolo entered the yard. He looked down at Vegeta in a way that Vegeta did not like.

"And why should we trust you? Who are you to her?"

Vegeta sneered at the tall freak and looked back to the leader. "She is my bride."

Kame looked behind him and nodded to the Namekians to bring Bulma forward. "Do you know him?"

Bulma nodded and had to keep tears from falling out of her eyes. She had known since they left that she and Vegeta would get married but that was the first time that he had proclaimed that in front of witnesses. Her heart felt like it just ran to him. "Yes." She said as she kept her eyes on Vegeta. "He is to be my husband."

Krillian who was sitting on top of the horse groaned in annoyance. He tried to tell Yamcha but he wouldn't listen.

The Namekians let Bulma go and she ran to Vegeta. She would have wrapped her arms around him but her shoulder still hurt from the arrow. Vegeta wasn't used to public displays of affection and hesitantly held her then took a step back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said happily. She then looked behind him. She recognized Yamcha's guard but that was all. "Who are they and where is Goku?"

"It's a long story." Vegeta grunted.

"But one I will like to hear." Kame said stepping forward.

**Meanwhile...**

"Goku you can't be serious?"

Goku moved away from the bed as fast as he could. He hurriedly put on his pants and tried not to look at his wife. Three times he tried to leave already but his wife had...talents to distract him to keep him in bed. Talents that he found out that he could not resist. He shortly wondered if it was possible for any man to resist such talents.

"I'm sorry Chichi but I promised my brother and I have to go to him."

Chichi glared at her new husband and then smirked as she stood up. She walked over to him with confidence as she clutched the bed sheets to her body. "But we are only starting to get used to each other." She said as she reached him and placed her hands on his chest, letting the sheets fall back to the ground.

Goku gulped and looked down. He could feel himself forgetting what he was supposed to do.

Chichi smiled and kissed his lips. "Vegeta can wait."

At that Goku stepped back. Then he narrowed his eyes. "You don't want me to go at all do you?"

Chichi huffed and gathered the sheets once more and sat on the bed. "Vegeta is selfish, rude, and arrogant and does not deserve you as a brother. And it angers me that you have no hesitation to leave your new bride and go off to die with him. His mission is as insane as he is. Why can't you let him go?"

Goku sat down next to Chichi and placed his arms around her. "He's my brother. I promised I wouldn't abandon him and I cannot. I can't let him fight alone. But I will come back to you I promise."

"Well if your promise to me is as great as the one you made to him I suppose I have no worries. But it still hurts me that you're leaving. You could die."

"I said I promise that I will come back to you."

"I shall hold you to it. Now leave quickly so you can return quickly." She said as she looked away.

"Thanks Chichi." Goku said as he kissed her forehead before he gathered the rest of his clothing and left out.

**Later**

Krillian didn't know exactly what to do as everyone sat around a fire discussing the events that had just taken place. He knew for a fact that the assassin that was guarded was 18's brother. He knew that everyone was still very suspicious of 18 and he especially knew that Vegeta believed there to be some connection to between the two. But he didn't want to say anything about it because he knew that they would more than likely throw 18 down in the cell with him. Probably execute them both. And he didn't want that to happen.

He looked up at 18 who was standing not too far away, her arms crossed and body language saying that she didn't care what happened. But when her eyes met his own, he knew that she was worried and just as lost as he was. They both knew that her very life was in his hands.

Krillian groaned then looked at the Princess who seemed to be happy as she told her tale to the Lost Prince. She was another problem. Yamcha had sent him to find her. Well he did, but he knew that there was no way he was going to get her back to him. _'I tried to tell him.'_

Vegeta tapped his fingers on his leg impatiently as he listened to Bulma rant on. He finally couldn't stand it anymore. "And you thought that was the best decision for you? To leave security and venture off into the woods? You are extremely lucky you were found."

Bulma blinked at Vegeta in shock. "I came to find you!"

"I didn't need to be found! I knew what I was doing. I left you at Yamcha's for a reason."

"But who is to say that the assassin wouldn't have found me there?"

"The only reason why you are here now is because you were fished out of a river!" Vegeta yelled.

"Well if you would have let me come with you then I wouldn't have been in a river now would I?" She yelled back.

"You stubborn female you could have died, been taken by someone else, rapped, murdered, left for dead or buried under a rock and no one would have been able to find you!"

Bulma was about to retort back but Kame placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please Princess; your prince does have a point."

"WHAT?!" Bulma yelled in outrage.

Piccolo winced at her screeching. "It is very likely that you would be found dead if I hadn't have come by when I did. Besides it appears to Vegeta was on his way to get you. You would have been reunited anyhow."

Krillian kept his head down at that. _'There was also a good chance that 18 and her brother would have already be taking Bulma to Frieza if 18 hadn't changed her mind.'_

Bulma only crossed her arms and looked away. "Well he was taking too long."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at that. The woman would never admit she was wrong. "Now that that's settled there is something we must understand." Vegeta said putting attention back to 18. "Something doesn't add up. You knew where Bulma fell into the river. You knew that it was an assassin that attacked her and you wanted me to promise not to hurt...your brother. So I am assuming that the one being held here is your brother. Am I correct?"

18 shifted her feet and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "That would be correct."

A few nearby Namekians came toward her ready to pounce then Kame held up his hand. "Wait!" Kame then looked to Krillian, "You said that she was hired by Yamcha to find the Princess, was her brother with her as well?"

Krillian gulped and then nodded.

Vegeta growled at that. "Why would you leave that information out? Were you working with them?"

Krillian waved his hands in defense. "No I wasn't!"

Raditz chuckled at his reaction. "Look at him. Isn't it obvious? She charmed him; possibly seduced him." Raditz said glaring at 18.

18 shrugged her shoulders. She knew it was over for her. "Think what you like."

Krillian blushed and shook his head. "No, it's not like that. She saved my life. Her brother was going to kill me."

"So you owed her a favor?" Bulma asked.

Krillian only nodded. Nappa was ready to get out of there. "I say we kill them all."

Kame glared at the bald Saiyan. "You have no say here. I will decide their fate."

18 then glared at Vegeta. "You promised!"

Vegeta smirked. "I am not in charge here."

Piccolo heard enough and turned to the surrounding Namekians. "Take her to the cell."

One tried to put her hands on her but she shrugged him off. "Just lead the way."

Everyone watched as 18 followed them to where her brother was. _'How are we going to get out of this?'_

"We will have to keep any eye on them. I'm sure with their experience that they will try to escape." Piccolo said.

Kame nodded in agreement. "Yes that is true. Now, there is another thing we must discuss." He then turned to Bulma and Vegeta. "We are not an advanced civilization like the places that you come from but what we have we cherish; Family and honor. Bulma is still engaged to Prince Yamcha and the way to handle that problem is for the two of you to get married. I can do that for you here and now if you would like."

Bulma brightened at that. "Really?"

Vegeta shook his head. "That will not be necessary."

"What do you mean it won't be necessary?" Bulma asked angrily.

"I will not marry you until I have what is mine."

Bulma looked at him in disbelief. "But I am yours."

Krillian grunted to get everyone's attention. "Yamcha won't stop looking for Bulma until you do. And even though Yamcha is my friend, it is clear that he is wasting his time on a woman that doesn't want him."

Vegeta crossed his arms stubbornly and Bulma placed a hand on his arm. "I don't want to wait any longer Vegeta. I want to be with you, I don't care where or how we are married as long as it is done."

Vegeta looked back to her. He wanted to get married in his own castle with his own servants. But even he knew that he didn't know how long that would actually take. He sighed out loud. "But don't you want your parents to be present and-"

"My parents wanted me to marry Yamcha remember?" Bulma said with a little resentment. She was still very upset with them for letting her be engaged to someone else when they knew good and well that she was in love with Vegeta.

Nappa chose to spoke up. "Sire, if I may, if you wish to marry her, now would be a good time. There is no telling what will happen once we begin our travels once again."

"Alright fine." Vegeta said as he turned back to Bulma. "We shall be married."

**Authors Note:** Next chapter is a beautiful forest wedding then the adventure continues. And I wonder what is going to happen to 17 and 18?


End file.
